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V 


N 


THE    BRAMLEIGHS 


OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 


BY 


CHARLES    LEYER 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS   BY   W.  CUBITT   COOKE, 
AND   E.  J.  WHEELER. 


BOSTON: 

LITTLE,   BROWN,  AND   COMPANY. 

1904. 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter  Pagk 

L    The  Bishop's  Folly 1 

II.     Lady  Augusta's  Letter 7 

III.  "The  Evening  after  a  Hard  Run"      ...  13 

rV.    On  the  Croquet  Lawn 20 

V.     Confidential  Talk     .    .     , 27 

VI.    Up  in  the  Mountains 36 

VII.     At  Luncheon 45 

VIII.    The  Arrival  of  a  Great  Man 51 

IX.    Over  the  Fire 58 

X.  The  Droppings  of  a  Great  Diplomatist  .     .  70 

XI.     A  Winter  Day's  Walk 77 

XII.  An  Evening  below  and  above  Stairs   ...  86 

XIII.  At  the  Cottage 98 

XIV.  Official  Confidences 109 

XV.     With  his  Lawyer 115 

XVI.     Some  Misunderstandings 120 

XVn.     At  Castello 129 

XVIIL     A  Dull  Dinner 137 

XIX.     A  Departure 153 

XX.    A  Morning  of  Perplexities 163 

XXI.     George  and  Julia 176 

XXII.    In  the  Library  at  Castello 184 

XXIII.  The  Curate  Cross-Examined 194 

XXIV.  Doubts  and  Fears 201 

XXV.    Marion's  Ambitions 218 

XXVI.  Mr.  Cutbill  Arrives  at  Castello    ....  224 

XXVII.     The  Villa  Altieri 231 


vi  CONTENTS. 

Chapteb  Page 

XXVIII.  Castello 238 

XXIX.  The  Hotel  Bristol 248 

XXX.  On  the  Road 256 

XXXI.  On  the  Road  to  Italy 267 

XXXII.  The  Church  Patrons  at  Albano  .     .     .     .  272 

XXXIII.  A  Small  Lodging  at  Louvain 284 

XXXIV.  At  Louvain 293 

XXXV.  Mr.  Cutbill's  Visit 297 

XXXVI.  An  Evening  with  Cutbill 304 

XXXVIL  The  Appointment 311 

XXXVin.  With  Lord  Culduff 318 

XXXIX.  At  Albano 323 

XL.  "  A  Reception  "  at  Rome 333 

XLI.  Some  "  Salon  Diplomacies  " 340 

XLII.  A  Long  Tete-a-Tete 348 

XLIII.  A  Special  Mission 3B1 

XLIV.  The  Church  Patrons 370 

XLV.  A  Pleasant  Dinner 378 

XLVL  A  Stroll  and  a  Gossip 384 

XLVIL  A  Proposal  in  Form 394 

XLVIIL  "A  Telegram" 400 

XLTX.  A  Long  Tete-a-Tete 411 

L.  Cattaro 418 

LL  Some  Kews  from  Without 424 

LIL  TscHiA 432 

LIII.  A  Rainy  Night  at  Sea 444 

LIV.  The  Letter  Bag 453 

LV.  The  Prisoner  at  Cattaro 461 

LVI.  At  Lady  Augusta's 469 

LVII.  At  the  Inn  at  Cattaro 475 

LVIIL  The  Villa  Life 484 

LIX.  A  Very  Brief  Dream 490 

LX.  A  Return  Home 498 

LXI.  Lady  Culduff's  Letter 506 

LXII.  Dealing  with  Cutbill 514 

LXIII.  The  Client  and  his  Lawyer 519 

LXIV.  A  First  Gleam  of  Light 524 


CONTENTS. 


Vll 


Chapteb  Page 

LXV.  The  Light  Stronger 533 

LXVI.  Sedley's  Notes 540 

LXVII.  A  Wayfarer 547 

LXVIII.  A  Meeting  and  a  Parting 554 

LXIX.  The  Last  of  All 560 


VI  CONTENTS. 

Chapteb  Page 

XXVIII.  Castello 238 

XXIX.  The  Hotel  Bristol 248 

XXX.  On  the  Koad 256 

XXXI.  On  the  Road  to  Italy 267 

XXXII.  The  Church  Patrons  at  Albano  .     .     .     .  272 

XXXIII.  A  Small  Lodging  at  Louvain 284 

XXXIV.  At  Louvain 293 

XXXV.  Mr.  Cutbill's  Visit 297 

XXXVI.  An  Evening  with  Cutbill 304 

XXXVII.  The  Appointment 311 

XXXVIII.  With  Lord  Culduff 318 

XXXIX.  At  Albano 323 

XL.  "  A  Reception  "  at  Rome 333 

XLI.  Some  "  Salon  Diplomacies  " 340 

XLII.  a  Long  Tete-a-Tete 348 

XLIII.  A  Special  Mission 381 

XLIV.  The  Church  Patrons 370 

XLV.  A  Pleasant  Dinner 378 

XL VI.  A  Stroll  and  a  Gossip 384 

XLVIL  A  Proposal  in  Form 394 

XLVIIL  "A  Telegram" 400 

XLIX.  A  Long  Tete-a-Tete 411 

L.  Cattaro 418 

LL  Some  Xews  from  Without 424 

LII.  IscHiA 432 

LIII.  A  Rainy  Night  at  Sea 444 

LIV.  The  Letter  Bag 453 

LV.  The  Prisoner  at  Cattaro 461 

LVI.  At  Lady  Augusta's 469 

LVII.  At  the  Inn  at  Cattaro 475 

LVIII.  The  Villa  Life 484 

LIX.  A  Very  Brief  Dream 490 

LX.  A  Return  Home 498 

LXI.  Lady  Culduff's  Letter 506 

LXII.  Dealing  with  Cutbill 514 

LXIII.  The  Client  and  his  Lawyer 519 

LXIV.  A  First  Gleam  of  Light 524 


CONTENTS. 


Vll 


Chapteb  Page 

LXV.  The  Light  Stronger 533 

LXVI.  Sedley's  Notes 540 

LXVII.  A  Wayfarer 547 

LXVIII.  A  Meeting  and  a  Parting 554 

LXIX.  The  Last  of  All 560 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


ORIGINAL  DESIGNS  BY  W.  CUBITT  COOKE  AND 
E.  J.  WHEELER. 

Page 
The  Evening  after  a  Hard  Run Frontispiece 

"'I  WISH  —  I  WISH — *  stammered  he" 100 

*'*Hbre  is  our  total  wealth,'  said  she" 270 

"'Why,  sir,  am  I  to  be  annoyed  by  this  man's  vul- 
gar PRESENCE?'" 341 

"*  Thank   Heaven,  there  is  a  respite,'  said    Bram- 

leigh" 403 

**He    thought    her    lips    seemed    to    murmur    some- 
thing'*     492 


OF   THE 

M/VERS/TY 

OF 

THE 

BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOFS  FOLLY. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE    bishop's    folly,     , 

Towards  the  close  of  the  last  century  there  was  a  very 
remarkable  man,  Bishop  of  Down,  in  Ireland :  a  Liberal  in 
politics,  in  an  age  when  Liberalism  lay  close  on  the  confines 
of  disloyalty ;  splendidly  hospitable,  at  a  period  when  hos- 
pitality verged  on  utter  recklessness ;  he  carried  all  his 
opinions  to  extremes.  He  had  great  taste,  which  had  been 
cultivated  by  foreign  travel,  and  having  an  ample  fortune, 
was  able  to  indulge  in  many  whims  and  caprices,  by  which 
some  were  led  to  doubt  of  his  sanity ;  but  others,  who 
judged  him  better,  ascribed  them  to  the  self-indulgence  of  a 
man  out  of  harmony  with  his  time,  and  comtemptuously 
indifferent  to  what  the  world  might  say  of  him. 

He  had  passed  many  years  in  Italy,  and  had  formed  a 
great  attachment  to  that  country.  He  liked  the  people 
and  their  mode  of  life ;  he  liked  the  old  cities,  so  rich  in 
art  treasures  and  so  teeming  with  associations  of  a  pictur- 
esque past ;  and  he  especially  liked  their  villa  architecture, 
which  seemed  so  essentially  suited  to  a  grand  and  costly 
style  of  living.  The  great  reception-rooms,  spacious  and 
lofty ;  the  ample  antechambers,  made  for  crowds  of  attend- 
ants ;  and  the  stairs  wide  enough  for  even  equipages  to 
ascend  them.  No  more  striking  illustration  of  his  capricious 
turn  of  mind  need  be  given  than  the  fact  that  it  was  his 
pleasure  to  build  one  of  these  magnificent  edifices  in  an 
Irish  county! — a  costly  whim,  obliging  him  to  bring  over 
I 


2  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

from  Italy  a  whole  troop  of  stucco-men  and  painters,  men 
skilled  in  fresco-work  and  carving,  —  an  extravagance  on 
which  he  spent  thousands.  Nor  did  he  live  to  witness  the 
completion  of  his  splendid  mansion. 

After  his  death  the  building  gradually  fell  into  decay. 
His  heirs,  not  improbably,  little  caring  for  a  project  which 
had  ingulfed  so  large  a  share  of  their  fortune,  made  no 
efforts  to  arrest  the  destroying  influences  of  time  and  cli- 
mate, and  "  Bishop's  Folly"  —  for  such  was  the  name  given 
to  it  by  the  country  people  —  soon  became  a  ruin.  In  some 
places  the  roof  had  fallen  in,  the  doors  and  windows  had  all 
been  carried  away  by  the  peasants,  and  in  many  a  cabin  or 
humble  shealing  in  the  county  around  slabs  of  colored  mar- 
ble or  fragments  of  costly  carving  might  be  met  with,  over 
which  the  skill  of  a  cunning  workman  had  been  bestowed 
for  days  long.  The  mansion  stood  on  the  side  of  a  moun- 
tain which  sloped  gradually  to  the  sea.  The  demesne,  well 
wooded,  but  with  young  timber,  was  beautifully  varied  in 
surface,  one  deep  glen  running,  as  it  were,  from  the  very 
base  of  the  house  to  the  beach,  and  showing  glimpses, 
through  the  trees,  of  a  bright  and  rapid  river  tumjjling 
onward  to  the  sea.  Seen  in  its  dilapidation  and  decaj^,  the 
aspect  of  the  place  was  dreary  and  depressing,  and  led  many 
to  wonder  how  the  bishop  could  ever  have  selected  such  a 
spot;  for  it  was  not  only  placed  in  the  midst  of  a  wild 
mountain  region,  but  many  miles  away  from  anything  that 
could  be  called  a  neighborhood.  But  the  same  haughty 
defiance  he  gave  the  world  in  other  things  urged  him  here  to 
show  that  he  cared  little  for  the  judgments  which  might  be 
passed  upon  him,  or  even  for  the  circumstances  which  would 
have  influenced  other  men.  "  When  it  is  my  pleasure  to  re- 
ceive company,  I  shall  have  my  house  full  no  matter  where 
I  live,"  was  his  haughty  speech,  and  certainly  the  whole 
character  of  his  life  went  to  confirm  his  words. 

Some  question  of  disputed  title,  after  the  bishop's  death, 
threw  the  estate  into  Chancery,  and  so  it  remained  till,  by 
the  operation  of  the  new  law  touching  incumbered  property, 
it  became  marketable,  and  was  purchased  by  a  rich  London 
banker,  who  had  declared  his  intention  of  coming  to  live 
upon  it. 


THE   BISHOP'S   FOLLY.  3 

That  any  one  rich  enough  to  buy  such  a  property,  able  to 
restore  such  a  costly  house,  and  maintain  a  style  of  living 
proportionate  to  its  pretensions,  should  come  to  reside  in  the 
solitude  and  obscurity  of  an  Irish  county,  seemed  all  but 
impossible ;  and  when  the  matter  became  assured  by  the 
visit  of  a  well-known  architect,  and  afterwards  by  the  arrival 
of  a  troop  of  workmen,  the  puzzle  then  became  to  guess  how 
it  chanced  that  the  great  head  of  a  rich  banking  firm,  the 
chairman  of  this,  the  director  of  that,  the  promoter  of 
Heaven  knows  what  scores  of  industrial  schemes  for  fortune, 
should  withdraw  from  the  great  bustle  of  life  to  accept  an 
existence  of  complete  oblivion. 

In  the  little  village  of  Portshandon  —  which  straggled 
along  the  beach;  and  where,  with  a  few  exceptions,  none 
but  fishermen  and  their  families  lived  —  this  question  was 
hotly  debated ;  an  old  half-pay  lieutenant,  who  by  courtesy 
was  called  Captain,  being  at  the  head  of  those  who  first 
denied  the  possibility  of  the  Bramleighs  coming  at  all,  and 
when  that  matter  was  removed  beyond  a  doubt,  next  taking 
his  stand  on  the  fact  that  nothing  short  of  some  disaster  in 
fortune,  or  some  aspersion  on  character,  could  ever  have 
driven  a  man  out  of  the  great  world  to  finish  his  days  in  the 
exile  of  Ireland. 

''  I  suppose  you'll  give  in  at  last.  Captain  Craufurd,"  said 
Mrs.  Bayley,  the  postmistress  of  Portshandon,  as  she  pointed 
to  a  pile  of  letters  and  newspapers  all  addressed  to  "  Cas- 
tello,"  and  which  more  than  quadrupled  the  other  correspond- 
ence of  the  locality. 

''  I  did  n't  pretend  they  were  not  coming,  Mrs.  Bayley," 
said  he,  in  the  cracked  and  cantankerous  tone  he  invariably 
spoke  in.  "  I  simply  observed  that  I  'd  be  thankful  for  any 
one  telling  me  why  they  were  coming.  That 's  the  puzzle,  — 
why  they  're  coming?" 

''I  suppose  because  they  like  it,  and  they  can  afford  it," 
said  she,  with  a  toss  of  her  head. 

"Like  it!  "  cried  he,  in  derision.  "Like  it!  Look  out 
of  the  window  there  beside  you,  Mrs.  Bayley,  and  say,  is  n't 
it  a  lovely  prospect,  that  beggarly  village,  and  the  old  rot- 
ten boats,  keel  uppermost,  with  the  dead  fish  and  the 
oyster-shells,  and    the  torn   nets,   and   the   dirty  children? 


4  THE  BKAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

Is  n't  it  an  elegant  sight  after  Hyde  Park  and  the  Queen's 
palace?  " 

"  I  never  saw  the  Queen's  palace  nor  the  other  place  you 
talk  of,  but  I  think  there  's  worse  towns  to  live  in  than 
Portshandon." 

"And  do  they  think  they'll  make  it  better  by  calling  it 
Castello?  "  said  he,  as  with  a  contemptuous  gesture  he  threw 
from  him  one  of  the  newspapers  with  this  address.  "  If 
they  want  to  think  they  're  in  Italy  they  ought  to  come  down 
here  in  November  with  the  Channel  fogs  sweeping  up 
through  'the  mountains,  and  the  wind  beating  the  rain 
against  the  windows.  I  hope  they  '11  think  they  're  in 
Naples.  Why  can't  they  call  the  place  by  the  name  we  all 
know  it  by  ?  It  was  Bishop's  Folly  when  I  was  a  boy,  and 
it  will  be  Bishop's  Folly  after  I'm  dead." 

"  I  suppose  people  can  call  their  house  whatever  they 
like?  Nobody  objects  to  your  calling  your  place  Craufurd's 
Lea." 

"I'd  like  to  see  them  object  to  it,"  cried  he,  fiercely. 
"It's  Craufurd's  Lea  in  Digge's  '  Survey  of  Down,'  1714. 
It 's  Craufurd's  Lea  in  the  '  Anthologia  Hibernica,'  and  it 's 
down,  too,  in  Joyce's  '  Irish  Fisheries ; '  and  we  were  Crau- 
furds  of  Craufurd's  Lea  before  one  stone  of  that  big  barrack 
up  there  was  laid,  and  maybe  we  '11  be  so  after  it 's  a  ruin 
again." 

' '  I  hope  it 's  not  going  to  be  a  ruin  any  more.  Captain 
Craufurd,  all  the  same,"  said  the  postmistress,  tartly,  for 
she  was  not  disposed  to  undervalue  the  increased  importance 
the  neighborhood  was  about  to  derive  from  the  rich  family 
coming  to  live  in  it. 

"Well,  there's  one  thing  I  can  tell  you,  Mrs.  Bayley," 
said  he,  with  his  usual  grin.  "  The  devil  a  bit  of  Ireland 
they  'd  ever  come  to,  if  they  could  live  in  England.  Mind 
my  words,  and  see  if  they  '11  not  come  true.  It 's  either  the 
bank  is  in  a  bad  way,  or  this  or  that  company  is  going  to 
smash,  or  it 's  his  wife  has  run  away,  or  one  of  the  daughters 
married  the  footman ;  —  something  or  other  has  happened, 
you  '11  see,  or  we  would  never  have  the  honor  of  their  dis- 
tinguished company  down  here." 

"  It's  a  bad  wind  blows  nobody  good,"  said  Mrs.  Bayley. 
"  It's  luck  for  us,  anyhow." 


THE  BISHOP'S  FOLLY.  5 

*'  I  don't  perceive  the  luck  of  it  either,  ma'am,"  said  the 
Captain,  with  increased  peevishness.  "Chickens  will  be 
eighteenpence  a  couple,  eggs  a  halfpenny  apiece.  I'd  like 
to  know  what  you  '11  pay  for  a  codfish,  such  as  I  bought 
yesterday  for  f ourpence  ?  " 

"  It 's  better  for  them  that  has  to  sell  them." 

"Ay,  but  I'm  talking  of  them  that  has  to  buy  them, 
ma'am,  and  I'm  thinking  how  a  born  gentleman  with  a 
fixed  income  is  to  compete  with  one  of  these  fellows  that 
gets  his  gold  from  California  at  market  price,  and  makes 
more  out  of  one  morning's  robbery  on  the  Stock  Ex- 
change, than  a  Lieutenant-General  receives  after  thirty 
years'  service." 

A  sharp  tap  at  the  window-pane  interrupted  the  discussion 
at  this  critical  moment,  and  Mrs.  Bayley  perceived  it  was 
Mr.  Dorose,  Colonel  Bramleigh's  valet,  who  had  come  for  the 
letters  for  the  great  house. 

"Only  these,  Mrs.  Bayley?"  said  he,  half  contemptuously. 

"Well,  indeed,  sir;  it's  a  good-sized  bundle  after  all. 
There  's  eleven  letters,  and  about  fifteen  papers  and  two 
books." 

"  Send  them  all  on  to  Brighton,  Mrs.  Bayley.  We  shall 
not  come  down  here  till  the  end  of  the  month.  Just  give 
me  the  '  Times,'  however ;  "  and  tearing  open  the  cover,  he 
turned  to  the  City  article.  ' '  I  hope  you  've  nothing  in 
Ecuadors,  Mrs.  Bayley ;  they  look  shaky.  I  'm  '  hit,'  too, 
in  my  Turks.  I  see  no  dividend  this  half."  Here  he  leaned 
forward,  so  as  to  whisper  in  her  ear,  and  said,  "  Whenever 
you  want  a  snug  thing,  Mrs.  B.,  you're  always  safe  with 
Brazilians ;  "  and  with  this  he  moved  off,  leaving  the  post- 
mistress in  a  flurry  of  shame  and  confusion  as  to  what  pre- 
cise character  of  transaction  his  counsel  applied. 

"  Upon  my  conscience,  we  're  come  to  a  pretty  pass  !  " 
exclaimed  the  Captain,  as,  buttoning  his  coat,  he  issued  forth 
into  the  street ;  nor  was  his  temper  much  improved  by  find- 
ing the  way  blocked  up  by  a  string  of  carts  and  drays, 
slowly  proceeding  towards  the  great  house,  all  loaded  with 
furniture  and  kitchen  utensils,  and  the  other  details  of  a 
large  household.  A  bystander  remarked  that  four  saddle- 
horses  had  passed  through   at   daybreak,  and   one   of   the 


6  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

grooms  had  said,  "  It  was  nothing  to  what  was  coming  in 
a  few  days." 

Two  days  after  this,  and  quite  unexpectedly  by  all,  the 
village  awoke  to  see  a  large  flag  waving  from  the  flagstaff 
over  the  chief  tower  of  Castello;  and  the  tidings  were 
speedily  circulated  that  the  great  people  had  arrived.  A 
few  sceptics,  determining  to  decide  the  point  for  themselves, 
set  out  to  go  up  to  the  house ;  but  the  lodge-gate  was  closed 
and  the  gatekeeper  answered  them  from  behind  it,  saying 
that  no  visitors  were  to  be  admitted ;  a  small  incident,  in  its 
way,  but,  after  all,  it  is  by  small  incidents  that  men  speculate 
on  the  tastes  and  tempers  of  a  new  dynasty. 


CHAPTER   II. 

LADY  Augusta's  letter. 

It  will  save  some  time,  both  to  writer  and  reader,  while  it 
will  also  serve  to  explain  certain  particulars  about  those 
we  are  interested  in,  if  I  give  in  this  place  a  letter  which 
was  written  by  Lady  Augusta  Bramleigh,  the  Colonel's 
young  wife,  to  a  married  sister  at  Rome.     It  ran  thus : 

Hanover  Square,  Nov.  10,  18 — . 

Dearest  Dorothy,  — 

Here  we  are  back  in  town,  at  a  season,  too,  when  we  find  our- 
selves the  only  people  left ;  and  if  I  wanted  to  make  a  long  story 
of  how  it  happens,  there  is  the  material ;  but  it  is  precisely  what 
I  desire  to  avoid,  and  at  the  risk  of  being  barely  intelligible,  I  will 
be  brief.  We  have  left  Earlshope,  and,  indeed,  Herefordshire,  for 
good.  Our  campaign  there  was  a  social  failure,  but  just  such  a 
failure  as  I  predicted  it  would  and  must  be ;  and  although,  possi- 
bly, I  might  have  liked  to  have  been  spared  some  of  the  mortifi- 
cations we  met  with,  I  am  too  much  pleased  with  the  results  to 
quarrel  over  the  means. 

You  are  already  in  possession  of  what  we  intended  by  the  pur- 
chase of  Earlshope  —  how  we  meant  to  become  county  magnates, 
marry  our  sons  and  daughters  to  neighboring  magnates,  and  live 
as  though  we  had  been  rooted  to  the  soil  for  centuries.  I  say 
"  we,"  my  dear,  because  I  am  too  good  a  wife  to  separate  mj^self 
from  Col.  B.  in  all  these  projects  ;  but  I  am  fain  to  own  that  as  I 
only  saw  defeat  in  the  plan,  I  opposed  it  from  the  first.  Here,  in 
town,  money  will  do  anything;  at  least,  anything  that  one  has  any 
right  to  do.  There  may  be  a  set  or  a  clique  to  which  it  will  not 
give  admission ;  but  who  wants  them,  who  needs  them  ? 

There 's  always  a  wonderful  Van  Eyck  or  a  Memling  in  a 
Dutch  town,  to  obtain  the  sight  of  which  you  have  to  petition  the 
authorities,  or  implore  the  Stadtholder ;  but  I  never  knew  any  one 
admit  that  success  repaid  the  trouble  ;  and  the  chances  are  that 
you  come  away  from  the  sight  fully  convinced  that  you  have  seen 


8  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

scores  of  old  pictures  exactly  like  it,  and  that  all  that  could  be 
said  was,  it  was  as  brown,  and  as  dusky,  and  as  generally  disap- 
pointing, as  its  fellows.  So  it  is  with  these  small  exclusive  socie- 
ties. It  may  be  a  great  triumph  of  ingenuity  to  pick  tiie  lock  ; 
but  there  's  nothing  in  the  coffer  to  reward  it.  I  repeat,  then, 
with  money  —  and  we  had  money  —  London  was  open  to  us.  All 
the  more,  too,  that  for  some  years  back  society  has  taken  a  specu- 
lative turn ;  and  it  is  nothing  derogatory  to  find  people  "  to  go 
iu,"  as  it  is  called,  for  a  good  thing,  in  "  Turks  "  or  "  Brazilians," 
in  patent  fuel,  or  a  new  loan  to  the  children  of  Egypt.  To  these, 
and  such  like,  your  City  man  and  banker  is  esteemed  a  safe  pilot ; 
and  you  would  be  amused  at  the  amount  of  attention  Col.  B. 
was  accustomed  to  meet  with  from  men  who  regarded  themselves 
as  immeasurably  above  him,  and  who,  all  question  of  profit 
apart,  would  have  hesitated  at  admitting  him  to  their  acquain- 
tance. 

I  tell  you  all  these  very  commonplace  truths,  my  dear  Dorothy, 
because  they  may  not,  indeed  cannot,  be  such  truisms  to  you  — 
you,  who  live  in  a  grand  old  city,  with  noble  traditions,  and  the 
refinements  that  come  transmitted  from  centuries  of  high  habits  ; 
and  I  feel,  as  I  write,  how  puzzled  you  will  often  be  to  follow  me. 
London  wasi^,  as  I  have  twice  said,  our  home ;  but  for  that  very 
reason  we  could  not  be  content  with  it.  Earlshope,  by  ill  luck, 
was  for  sale,  and  we  bought  it.  I  am  afraid  to  tell  you  the  height 
of  our  castle-building ;  but,  as  we  were  all  engaged,  the  work  went 
on  briskly,  every  day  adding  at  least  a  story  to  the  edifice.  We 
were  to  start  as  high  sheriff,  then  represent  the  county.  I  am  not 
quite  clear,  I  think  we  never  settled  the  point  as  to  the  lord- 
lieutenancy  ;  but  I  know  the  exact  way,  and  the  very  time,  in 
which  we  demanded  our  peerage.  How  we  threatened  to  sulk, 
and  did  sulk  ;  how  we  actually  sat  a  whole  night  on  the  back 
benches;  and  how  we  made  our  eldest  son  dance  twice  with  a 
daughter  of  the  "  Opposition,"  —  menaces  that  no  intelligent 
Cabinet  or  conscientious  "  Whip  "  could  for  a  moment  misunder- 
stand. And  oh!  my  dear  Dora,  as  I  write  these  things,  how 
forcibly  I  feel  the  prudence  of  that  step  which  once  we  all  were 
so  ready  to  condemn  you  for  having  taken.  You  were  indeed  right 
to  marry  a  foreigner.  That  an  English  girl  should  address  her- 
self to  the  married  life  of  England,  the  first  condition  is  she 
should  never  have  left  England,  not  even  for  that  holiday-trip  to 
Paris  and  Switzerland,  which  people  now  do,  as  once  they  were 
wont  to  "do  Margate."  The  whole  game  of  existence  is  such  a 
scramble  with  us  :  we  scramble  for  social  rank,  for  place,  for  in- 
fluence, for  Court  favor,  for  patronage;  and  all  these  call  for  so 
much  intrigue  and  plotting,  that  I  vow  to  you  I  'd  as  soon  be  a 


LADY   AUGUSTA'S   LETTER.  y 

Carbonara  or  a  Sanfedista  as  the  wife  of  an  aspiring  middle-class 
Englishman. 

But  to  return.  The  county  would  not  have  us  —  we  were  rich, 
and  we  were  City  folk,  and  they  deemed  it  an  unpardonable  pre- 
tension in  us  to  come  down  amongst  them.  They  refused  our 
invitations,  and  sent  us  none  of  their  own.  We  split  with  them, 
contested  the  election  against  them,  and  got  beaten.  We  spent 
unheard-of  moneys,  and  bribed  everybody  that  had  not  a  vote 
for  ten  miles  round.  With  universal  suffrage,  which  I  believe  v/e 
promised  them,  we  should  have  been  at  the  head'  of  the  poll ;  but 
the  freeholders  were  to  a  man  opposed  to  us. 

I  am  told  that  our  opponents  behaved  ungenerously  and  un- 
-justly  —  perhaps  they  did ;  at  all  events,  the  end  of  the  contest 
left  us  without  a  single  acquaintance,  and  we  stood  alone  in  our 
glory  of  beaten  candidateship,  after  three  months  of  unheard-of 
fatigue,  and  more  meanness  than  I  care  to  mention.  The  end  of 
all  was,  to  shake  the  dust  off  our  feet  at  Herefordshire,  and  ad- 
vertise Earlshope  for  sale.  Meanwhile  we  returned  to  town  ;  just 
as  shipwrecked  men  clamber  up  the  first  rock  in  sight,  not  feel- 
ing in  their  danger  what  desolation  is  before  them.  I  take  it 
that  the  generals  of  a  beaten  army  talk  very  little  over  their  late 
defeat.  At  all  events  we  observed  a  most  scrupulous  reserve,  and 
I  don't  think  that  a  word  was  dropped  amongst  us  for  a  month 
that  could  have  led  a  stranger  to  believe  that  we  had  just  been 
beaten  in  an  election,  and  hunted  out  of  the  county. 

I  was  just  beginning  to  feel  that  our  lesson,  a  severe  one,  it  is 
true,  might  redound  to  our  future  benefit,  when  our  eldest-born 

—  I  call  them  all  mine,  Dora,  though  not  one  of  them  will  say 
mamma  to  me  —  discovered  that  there  was  an  Irish  estate  to  be 
sold,  with  a  fine  house  and  fine  grounds,  and  that  if  we  could  n't 
be  great  folk  in  the  grander  kingdom,  there  was  no  saying  what 
we  might  not  be  in  the  smaller  one.  This  was  too  much  for  me. 
I  accepted  the  Herefordshire  expedition  because  it  smacked  of 
active  service.  I  knew  well  we  should  be  defeated,  and  I  knew 
there  would  be  a  battle,  but  I  could  not  consent  to  banishment. 
What  had  I  done,  I  asked  myself  over  and  over,  that  I  should  be 
sent  to  live  in  Ireland  ? 

1  tried  to  get  up  a  party  against  the  project,  and  failed.  Augus- 
tus Bramleigh— our  heir  — was  in  its  favor,  indeed  its  chief  pro- 
moter. Temple,  the  second  son,  who  is  a  secretary  of  embassy, 
and  the  most  insufferable  of  puppies,  thought  it  a  "  nice  place  for 
us,"  and  certain  to  save  us  money ;  and  John,  — Jack  they  call  him, 

—  who  is  in  the  navy,  thinks  land  to  be  land,  besides  that,  he  was 
once  stationed  at  Cork,  and  thought  it  a  paradise.  If  I  could  do 
little  with  the  young  men,  I  did  less  with  the  girls.     Marion,  the 


10  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

eldest,  who  deems  her  papa  a  sort  of  divine-right  head  of  a  family, 
would  not  discuss  the  scheme  ;  and  Eleanor,  who  goes  in  for  nature 
and  spontaneous  feeling,  replied  that  she  was  overjoyed  at  the 
thought  of  Ireland,  and  even  half  gave  me  to  understand  that  she 
was  only  sorry  it  was  not  Africa.  I  was  thus  driven  to  a  last  re- 
source. I  sent  for  our  old  friend,  Doctor  Bartlet,  and  told  him 
frankly  that  he  must  order  me  abroad  to  a  dry  warm  climate, 
w^here  there  were  few  changes  of  temperature,  and  nothing  depress- 
ing in  the  air.  He  did  the  thing  to  perfection ;  he  called  in  Forbes 
to  consult  with  him.  The  case  was  very  serious,  he  said.  The 
lung  was  not  yet  attacked,  but  the  bronchial  tubes  were  affected. 
Oh,  how  grateful  I  felt  to  my  dear  bronchial  tubes,  for  they  have 
sent  me  to  Italy  I  Yes,  Dolly  dearest,  I  am  off  on  Wednesday,  and 
hope  within  a  week  after  this  reaches  you  to  be  at  yom-  side,  pour- 
ing out  all  my  sorrows,  and  asking  for  that  consolation  you  never 
yet  refused  me.  And  now,  to  be  eminently  practical,  can  you  obtain 
for  me  that  beautiful  little  villa  that  overlooked  the  Borghese 
Gardens?  —  it  was  called  the  Villino  Altieri.  The  old  Prince 
Giuseppe  Altieri,  who  used  to  be  an  adorer  of  mine,  if  he  be  alive 
may  like  to  resume  his  ancient  passion,  and  accept  me  for  a  tenant ; 
all  the  more  that  I  can  afford  to  be  liberal.  Col.  B.  behaves  well 
always  where  money  enters,  I  shall  want  servants,  as  I  only 
mean  to  take  from  this.  Rose  and  my  groom.  You  know  the  sort 
of  creatures  I  like  ;  but,  for  my  sake,  be  particular  about  the  cook, 
—  I  can't  eat  "  Komanesque,  "  —  and  if  there  be  a  stray  Frenchman 
wandering  about,  secure  him.  Do  you  remember  dear  old  Paoletti, 
Dolly,  who  used  to  serve  up  those  delicious  little  macaroni  suppers 
long  ago  in  our  own  room? — cheating  us  into  gourmandism  by 
the  trick  of  deceit !  Oh,  what  would  I  give  to  be  as  young  again ! 
To  be  soaring  up  to  heaven,  as  I  listened  wdth  closed  eyes  to  the 
chant  in  the  Sistine  Chapel,  or  ascending  to  another  elysium  of 
delight,  as  I  gazed  at  the  "noble  guard"  of  the  Pope,  who,  while 
his  black  charger  was  caracoling,  and  he  was  holding  on  by  the 
mane,  yet  managed  to  dart  towards  me  such  a  look  of  love  and 
devotion  !  and  you  remember,  Dolly,  we  lived  "  secondo  piano,"  at- 
the  time,  and  it  was  plucky  of  the  man,  considering  how  badly  he 
rode.  I  yearn  to  go  back  there.  I  yearn  for  those  sunsets  from 
the  Pinci^n,  and  those  long  rambling  rides  over  the  Campagna, 
leading  to  nothing  but  an  everlasting  dreaminess,  and  an  intense 
desire  that  one  could  go  on  day  after  day  in  the  same  delicious 
life  of  unreality ;  for  it  is  so,  Dolly.  Your  Roman  existence  is  as 
much  a  trance  as  anything  ever  was  —  not  a  sight  nor  sound  to 
shock  it.  The  swell  of  the  organ  and  the  odor  of  the  incense 
follow  you  even  to  your  pleasures,  and,  just  as  the  light  streams 
in  through  the  painted  windows  with  its  radiance  of  gold  and 


LADY  AUGUSTA'S  LETTER.  11 

amber  and  rose,  so  does  the  Church  tinge  with  its  mellow  lustre 
all  that  goes  on  within  its  shadow.  And  how  sweet  and  soothing 
it  all  is  !  I  don't  know,  I  cannot  know,  if  it  lead  to  heaven,  but 
it  certainly  goes  in  that  direction,  so  far  as  peace  of  mind  is  con- 
cerned. What  has  become  of  Carlo  Lambruschini  ?  is  he  married? 
How  good-looking  he  was,  and  how  he  sung !  I  never  heard 
Mario  without  thinking  of  him.  How  is  it  that  our  people  never 
have  that  velvety  softness  in  their  tenor  voices ;  there  is  no  rich- 
ness, no  latent  depth  of  tone,  and  consequently  no  power  of  ex- 
pression ?  Will  his  Eminence  of  the  Palazzo  Antinori  know  me 
again  ?  I  was  only  a  child  when  he  saw  me  last,  and  used  to  give 
me  his  "  benedizione."  Be  sure  you  bespeak  for  me  the  same  con- 
descending favor  again,  heretic  though  1  be.  Don't  be  shocked, 
dearest  Dora,  but  1  mean  to  be  half  converted,  that  is  to  have  a 
sort  of  serious  flirtation  with  the  Church  ;  something  that  is  to 
touch  my  affections,  and  yet  not  wound  my  principles ;  something 
that  will  surround  me  with  all  the  fervor  of  the  faith,  and  yet  not 
ask  me  to  sign  the  ordinances.  I  hope  I  can  do  this.  I  eagerly 
hope  it,  for  it  will  supply  a  void  in  my  heart  which  certainly 
neither  the  money  article,  nor  the  share  list,  nor  even  the  details 
of  a  county  contest,  have  sufficed  to  fill.  Where  is  poor  little 
Santa  Rosa  and  his  guitar?  I  want  them,  Dolly  —  I  want  them 
both.  His  little  tinkling  barcarolles  were  as  pleasant  as  the  drip 
of  a  fountain  on  a  sultry  night ;  and  am  I  not  a  highly  imagina- 
tive creature,  who  can  write  of  a  sultry  night  in  this  land  of  fog, 
east  wind,  gust,  and  gaslight  ?  How  my  heart  bounds  to  think 
how  soon  I  shall  leave  it !  How  I  could  travesty  the  refrain,  and 
cry,  "Rendez-moi  mon  passeport,  ou  laissez-moi  mourir."  And 
now,  Dolly  darling,  I  have  done.  Secure  me  the  villa,  engage  my 
people.  Tanti  saluti  to  the  dear  cardinal,  —  as  many  loves  to  all 
who  are  kind  enough  to  remember  me.  Send  me  a  lascia-passare 
for  my  luggage  —  it  is  voluminous  —  to  the  care  of  the  consul  at 
Civita  Vecchia,  and  tell  him  to  look  out  for  me  by  the  arrival  of 
the  French  boat,  somewhere  about  the  20th  or  21st ;  he  can  be 
useful  with  the  custom-house  creatures,  and  obtain  me  a  carriage 
all  to  myself  in  the  train. 

It  is  always  more  "  carino  "  to  talk  of  a  husband  at  the  last  line 
of  a  letter,  and  so  I  say,  give  dear  Tino  all  my  loves,  quite  apart 
and  distinct  from  my  other  legacies  of  the  like  nature.  Tell  him, 
1  am  more  tolerant  than  I  used  to  be,  —  he  will  know  my  meaning, 
—  that  I  make  paper  cigarettes  just  as  well,  and  occasionally,  when 
in  high  good-humor,  even  condescend  to  smoke  one  too.  Say  also, 
that  1  have  a  little  chestnut  cob,  quiet  enough  for  his  riding,  which 
shall  be  always  at  his  orders  ;  that  he  may  dine  with  me  every  Sun- 
day, and  have  one  dish  —  I  know  well  what  it  will  be,  I  smell  the 


12  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

garlic  of  it  even  now  —  of  his  own  dictating  ;  and  if  these  be  not 
enough,  add  that  he  may  make  love  to  me  during  the  whole  of 
Lent ;  and  with  this,  believe  me 

Your  own  doting  sister, 

Augusta  Bramleigh. 

After  much  thought  and  many  misgivings  I  deemed  it  advisable 
to  offer  to  take  one  of  the  girls  with  me,  leaving  it  open,  to  mark 
my  indifference,  as  to  which  it  should  be.  They  both  however 
refused,  and,  to  my  intense  relief,  declared  that  they  did  not  care 
to  come  abroad  ;  Augustus  also  protesting  that  it  was  a  plan  he 
could  not  approve  of.  The  diplomatist  alone  opined  that  the  pro- 
ject had  anything  to  recommend  it ;  but  as  his  authority,  like  my 
own,  in  the  family,  carries  little  weight,  we  were  happily  outvoted. 
I  have,  therefore,  the  supreme  satisfaction  —  and  is  it  not  such  V 
—  of  knowing  that  I  have  done  the  right  thing,  and  it  has  cost  me 
nothing  ;  like  those  excellent  people  who  throw  very  devout  looks 
towards  heaven,  without  the  remotest  desire  to  be  there. 


CHAPTER  III. 

*'  THE    EVENING    AFTER   A    HARD    RUN." 

It  was  between  eight  and  nine  o'clock  of  a  wintry  evening 
near  Christinas;  a  cold  drizzle  of  rain  was  falling,  which 
on  the  mountains  might  have  been  snow,  as  Mr.  Drayton, 
the  butler  at  the  great  house,  as  Castello  was  called  in  the 
village,  stood  austerely  with  his  back  to  the  fire  in  the 
dining-room,  and,  as  he  surveyed  the  table,  wondered  within 
himself  what  could  possibly  have  detained  the  young  gentle- 
men so  late.  The  hounds  had  met  that  day  about  eight 
miles  off,  and  Colonel  Bramleigh  had  actually  put  off  dinner 
half  an  hour  for  them,  but  to  no  avail ;  and  now  Mr»  Dray- 
ton, whose  whole  personal  arrangements  for  the  evening  had 
been  so  thoughtlessly  interfered  with,  stood  there  musing 
over  the  wayward  nature  of  youth,  and  inwardly  longing 
for  the  time  when,  retiring  from  active  service,  he  should 
enjoy  the  ease  and  indulgence  his  long  life  of  fatigue  and 
hardship  had  earned. 

"They're  coming  now,  Mr.  Drayton,"  said  a  livery- 
servant,  entering  hastily.  "  George  saw  the  light  of  their 
cigars  as  they  came  up  the  avenue." 

"Bring  in  the  soup,  then,  at  once,  and  send  George  here 
with  another  log  for  the  fire.  There'll  be  no  dressing  for 
dinner  to-day,  I  '11  be  bound  ;  "  and  imparting  a  sort  of  sar- 
castic bitterness  to  his  speech,  he  filled  himself  a  glass  of 
sherry  at  the  sideboard  and  tossed  it  off,  —  only  just  in 
time,  for  the  door  opened,  and  a  very  noisy,  merry  party 
of  four  entered  the  room,  and  made  for  the  fire. 

"  As  soon  as  you  like,  Drayton,"  said  Augustus,  the  eld- 
est Bramleigh,  a  tall,  good-looking,  but  somewhat  stern- 
featured  man  of  about  eight-and-twenty.  The  second, 
Temple  Bramleigh,  was  middle-sized,  with  a  handsome  but 


14  THE   BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

somewhat  over-delicate-looking  face,  to  which  a  simpering 
affectation  of  imperturbable  self-conceit  gave  a  sort  of  puppy- 
ism ;  while  the  youngest,  Jack,  was  a  bronzed,  bright-eyed, 
fine-looking  fellow,  manly,  energetic,  and  determined,  but  with 
a  sweetness  when  he  smiled  and  showed  his  good  teeth  that 
implied  a  soft  and  very  impressionable  nature.  They  were 
all  in  scarlet  coats,  and  presented  a  group  strikingly  good- 
looking  and  manly.  The  fourth  of  the  party  was,  however, 
so  eminently  handsome,  and  so  superior  in  expression  as 
well  as  lineament,  that  the  others  seemed  almost  vulgar  be- 
side him.  He  was  in  black  coat  and  cords,  a  checlvgd  cravat 
seeming  to  indicate  that  he  was  verging,  so  far  as  he  might, 
on  the  limits  of  hunting  costume;  for  George  L'Estrange 
was  in  orders,  and  the  curate  of  the  parish  in  which  Cas- 
tello  stood.  It  is  not  necessary  to  detain  the  reader  by 
any  lengthened  narrative  of  the  handsome  young  parson. 
Enough  to  say,  that  it  was  not  all  from  choice  he  had  en- 
tered the  Church,  —  narrow  fortune,  and  the  hope  of  a 
small  family  living,  deciding  him  to  adopt  a  career  which, 
to  one  who  had  a  passion  for  field-sports,  seemed  the  very 
last  to  gratify  his  tastes.  As  a  horseman  he  was  con- 
fessedly the  first  in  the  country  round;  although  his  one 
horse  —  he  was  unable  to  keep  a  second  —  condemned  him 
to  rare  appearance  at  the  meets.  The  sight  of  the  parson 
and  his  black  mare,  Nora  Creina,  in  the  field,  were  treated 
with  a  cheer,  for  he  was  a  universal  favorite,  and  if  a  gen- 
eral suffrage  could  have  conferred  the  episcopate,  George 
would  have  had  his  mitre  many  a  day  ago. 

So  sure  a  seat  and  so  perfect  a  hand  needed  never  to  have 
wanted  a  mount.  There  was  not  a  man  with  a  stable  who 
would  not  have  been  well  pleased  to  see  his  horse  ridden 
by  such  a  rider ;  but  L'Estrange  declined  all  such  offers,  — 
a  sensitive  fear  of  being  called  a  hunting  parson  deterred 
him ;  indeed,  it  was  easy  to  see  by  the  rarity  with  which  he 
permitted  himself  the  loved  indulgence,  what  a  struggle  he 
maintained  between  will  and  temptation,  and  how  keenly 
he  felt  the  sacrifice  he  imposed  upon  himself. 

Such,  in  brief,  was  the  party  who  were  now  seated  at 
table,  well  pleased  to  find  themselves  in  presence  of  an 
admirable  dinner,  in  a   room   replete  with  every  comfort. 


"THE   EVENING  AFTER   A  HARD   RUN."  15 

The  day's  run,  of  course,  formed  the  one  topic  of  their  talk, 
and  a  great  deal  of  merriment  went  on  about  the  sailor-like 
performances  of  Jack,  who  had  been  thrown  twice,  but  on 
the  whole  acquitted  himself  creditably,  and  had  taken  one 
high  bank  so  splendidly  as  to  win  a  cheer  from  all  who  saw 
him. 

"  I  wish  you  had  not  asked  that  poor  Frenchman  to  fol- 
low you.  Jack,"  said  Augustus;  "  lie  was  really  riding  very 
nicely  till  he  came  to  that  unlucky  fence." 

"I  only  cried  out,  '  Venez  done,  monsieur,'  and  when  I 
turned  my  head,  after  clearing  the  bank,  I  saw  his  horse 
with  his  legs  in  the  air  and  monsieur  underneath." 

"  When  I  picked  him  up,"  broke  in  L'Estrange,  "  he  said, 
'Merci  mille  fois,  monsieur,'  and  then  fainted  off,  the  poor 
fellow's  face  actually  wearing  the  smile  of  courtesy  he  had 
got  up  to  thank  me." 

"Why  will  Frenchmen  try  things  that  are  quite  out  of 
their  beat?"  said  Jack. 

"  That's  a  most  absurd  prejudice  of  yours.  Master  Jack," 
cried  the  diplomatist.  "  Frenchmen  ride  admirably,  now- 
a-days.  I  've  seen  a  steeple-chase  in  Normandy,  over  as 
stiff  a  course,  and  as  well  ridden,  as  ever  Leicestershire 
witnessed." 

"Yes,  yes;  I've  heard  all  that,"  said  the  sailor,  "just 
as  I  've  heard  that  their  iron  fleet  is  as  good,  if  not  better, 
than  our  own." 

"  I  think  our  own  newspapers  rather  hint  that,"  said 
L'Estrange. 

"They  do  more,"  said  Temple;  "they  prove  it.  They 
show  a  numerical  superiority  in  ships,  and  they  give  an 
account  of  guns  and  weight  of  metal  dead  against  us." 

"  I'll  not  say  anything  of  the  French;  but  this  much  I 
will  say,"  cried  the  sailor;  "the  question  will  have  to  be 
settled  one  of  these  days,  and  I  'm  right  glad  to  think  that 
it  cannot  be  done  by  writers  in  newspapers." 

"May  I  come  in?"  cried  a  soft  voice;  and  a  very  pretty 
bead,  with  long  fair  ringlets,  appeared  at  the  door. 

"Yes.  Come  by  all  means,"  said  Jack;  "perhaps  we 
shall  be  able,  by  your  help,  to  talk  of  something  besides 
fighting  Frenchmen." 


16  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

While  he  spoke,  L'Estrange  had  risen,  and  approached 
to  shake  hands  with  her. 

"Sit  down  with  us,  Nelly,"  said  Augustus,  "or  George 
will  get  no  dinner." 

"Give  me  a  chair,  Draj^on,"  said  she;  and,  turning  to 
her  brother,  added,  "I  only  came  in  to  ask  some  tidings 
about  an  unlucky  foreigner;  the  servants  have  it  he  was 
cruelly  hurt,  some  think  hopelessly." 

"  There's  the  culprit  who  did  the  mischief,"  said  Temple, 
pointing  to  Jack ;   "  let  him  recount  his  feat." 

"I'm  not  to  blame  in  the  least,  Nelly.  I  took  a  smash- 
ing high  bank,  and  the  little  Frenchman  tried  to  follow  me 
and  came  to  grief." 

''  Ay,  but  you  challenged  him  to  come  on,"  said  Temple. 
"  Now,  Master  Jack,  people  don't  do  that  sort  of  thing  in 
the  hunting-field." 

"I  said,  'Come  along,  monsieur,'  to  give  him  pluck.     I 
never  thought  for  a  moment  he  was  to  suffer  for  it." 
"  But  is  he  seriously  hurt?  "  asked  she. 
"  I  think  not,"  said  L'Estrange ;   "  he  seemed  to  me  more 
stunned   than  actually  injured.     Fortunately   for  him  they 
had   not  far   to  take  him,   for   the  disaster  occurred   quite 
close  to  Duckett's  Wood,  where  he  is  stopping." 
"  Is  he  at  Longworth's?  "  asked  Augustus. 
"  Yes.     Longworth  met  him  up  the  Nile,  and  they  trav- 
elled together  for  some  months,  and,  when   they  parted,  it 
was    agreed    they  were   to  meet    here    at    Christmas;    and 
though  Longworth  had  written  to  apprise  his  people  they 
were  coming,  he  has  not  appeared  himself,  and  the  French- 
man is  waiting  patiently  for  his  host's  arrival." 

"  And  laming  his  best  horse  in  the  mean  while.  That 
dark  bay  will  never  do  another  day  with  hounds,"  said 
Temple. 

"  She  was  shaky  before,  but  she  is  certainly  not  the  better 
of  this  day's  work.  I  'd  blister  her,  and  turn  her  out  for  a 
full  year,"  said  Augustus. 

"I  suppose  that's  another  of  those  things  in  which  the 
French  are  our  superiors,"  muttered  Jack;  "  but  I  suspect 
I'd  think  twice  about  it  before  I'd  install  myself  in  a 
man's  house,  and  ride  his  horses  in  his  absence." 


"THE   EVENING  AFTER  A  HARD   RUN."  17 

"  It  was  the  host's  duty  to  be  there  to  receive  him," 
said  Temple,  who  was  always  on  the  watch  to  make  the 
sailor  feel  how  little  he  knew  of  society  and  its  ways. 

"I  hope  when  you've  finished  your  wine,"  said  Ellen, 
"you'll  not  steal  off  to  bed,  as  you  did  the  other  night, 
without  ever  appearing  in  the  drawing-room." 

"  L'Estrange  shall  go,  at  all  events,"  cried  Augustus. 
"  The  Church  shall  represent  the  laity." 

"I'm  not  in  trim  to  enter  a  drawing-room,  Miss  Bram- 
leigh,"  said  the  curate,  blushing.  "  I  would  n't  dare  to 
present  myself  in  such  a  costume." 

"I  declare,"  said  Jack,  "I  think  it  becomes  you  better 
than  your  Sunday  rig;  don't  you,  Nelly?" 

"Papa  will  be  greatly  disappointed,  Mr.  L'Estrange,  if 
he  should  not  see  you,"  said  she,  rising  to  leave  the  room ; 
"  he  wants  to  hear  all  about  your  day's  sport,  and  espe- 
cially about  that  poor  Frenchman.    Do  you  know  his  name?  " 

"  Yes,  here's  his  card  ;  — Anatole  de  Pracontal." 

"A  good  name,"  said  Temple,  "but  the  fellow  himself 
looks  a  snob." 

"I  call  that  very  hard,"  said  Jack,  "to  say  what  any 
fellow  looks  like  when  he  is  covered  with  slush  and  dirt, 
his  hat  smashed,  and  his  mouth  full  of  mud." 

"  Don't  forget  that  we  expect  to  see  you,"  said  Ellen, 
with  a  nod  and  a  smile  to  the  curate,  and  left  the  room. 

"  And  who  or  what  is  Mr.  Longworth?  "  said  Temple. 

"I  never  met  him.  All  I  know  is,  that  he  owns  that 
very  ugly  red-brick  house,  with  the  three  gables  in  front,  on 
the  hill-side  as  you  go  towards  Newry,"  said  Augustus. 

"  I  think  I  can  tell  you  something  about  him,"  said  the 
parson  ;  "his  father  was  my  grandfather's  agent.  I  believe 
he  began  as  his  steward,  when  we  had.  property  in  this 
county ;  he  must  have  been  a  shrewd  sort  of  man,  for  he 
raised  himself  from  a  very  humble  origin  to  become  a  small 
estated  proprietor  and  justice  of  the  peace ;  and  when  he 
died,  about  four  years  ago,  he  left  Philip  Longworth  some- 
thing like  a  thousand  a  year  in  landed  property,  and  some 
ready  money  besides." 

"And  this  Longworth,  as  vou  call  him, — what  is  he 
like?" 


18  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

*'  A  good  sort  of  fellow,  who  would  be  better  if  he  was 
not  possessed  by  a  craving  ambition  to  know  fine  people, 
and  move  in  their  society.  Not  being  able  to  attain  the 
place  he  aspires  to  in  his  own  county,  he  has  gone  abroad, 
and  affects  to  have  a  horror  of  English  life  and  ways,  the 
real  grievance  being  his  own  personal  inability  to  meet 
acceptance  in  a  certain  set.  This  is  what  I  hear  of  him ; 
my  own  knowledge  is  very  slight.  I  have  ever  found  him 
well-mannered  and  polite,  and,  except  a  slight  sign  of 
condescension,   I  should  say  pleasant." 

''I  take  it,"  said  the  sailor,  "he  must  be  an  arrant 
snob." 

"  Not  necessarily,  Jack,"  said  Temple.  "  There  is  nothing 
Ignoble  in  a  man's  desire  to  live  with  the  best  people,  if  he 
do  nothing  mean  to  reach  that  goal." 

"Whom  do  you  call  the  best  people.  Temple?"  asked 
the  other. 

"  By  the  best  people,  I  mean  the  first  in  rank  and  station. 
I  am  not  speaking  of  their  moral  excellence,  but  of  their 
social  superiority,  and  of  that  pre-eminence  which  com.es 
of  an  indisputable  position,  high  name,  fortune,  and  the 
world's  regards.  These  I  call  the  best  people  to  live 
with."  ^ 

"And  I  do  not,"  said  Jack,  rising,  and  throwing  his 
napkin  on  the  table,  "not  at  least  for  men  like  myself.  I 
want  to  associate  with  my  equals.  I  want  to  mix  with  men 
who  cannot  overbear  me  by  any  accident  of  their  wealth  or 
title."   . 

"Jack  should  never  have  gone  into  the  navy,  that's 
clear,"  said  Augustus,  laughing;  "  but  let  us  draw  round 
the  fire  and  have  a  cigar." 

"You'll  have  to  pay  your  visit  to  the  drawing-room, 
L'Estrange,"  said  Jack,  "before  we  begin  to  smoke,  for  the 
governor  hates  tobacco,  and  detects  it  in  an  instant." 

"  I  declare,"  said  the  parson,  as  he  looked  at  his  splashed 
cords  and  dirty  boots,  "  I  have  no  courage  to  present  myself 
in  such  a  trim  as  this." 

"  Report  yourself  and  come  back  at  once,"  cried  Jack. 

"  I'd  say,  don't  go  in  at  all,"  said  Temple. 

"That's    what  I   should   do,  certainl}^,"  said  Augustus. 


"THE  EVENING  AFTER  A  HARD   RUN."  19 

''  Sit  down  here.    What  are  you  drinking?    This  is  Pomare, 
and  better  than  claret  of  a  cold  evening." 

And  the  curate  yielded  to  the  soft  persuasion,  and,  seated 
around  the  fire,  the  young  men  talked  horses,  dogs,  and 
field  sports,  till  the  butler  came  to  say  that  tea  was  served 
in  the  drawing-room,  when,  rising,  they  declared  themselves 
too  tired  to  stay  up  longer,  and  wishing  each  other  good 
night  they  sauntered  up  to  thek  rooms  to  bed. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

ON    THE    CROQUET    LAWN. 

The  day  after  a  hard  run,  like  the  day  after  a  battle,  is 
often  spent  in  endeavors  to  repau-  the  disasters  of  the  strug- 
gle. So  was  it  here.  The  young  men  passed  the  morning 
in  the  stables,  or  going  back  and  forward  with  bandages  and 
liniments.  There  was  a  tendon  to  be  cared  for,  a  sore  back 
to  be  attended  to.  Benbo,  too,  would  n't  feed ;  the  groom 
said  he  had  got  a  surfeit ;  w^hich  malady,  in  stable  parlance, 
applies  to  excess  of  work,  as  well  as  excess  of  diet. 

Augustus  Bramleigh  was,  as  becomes  an  eldest  son, 
grandly  imperious  and  dictatorial,  and  looked  at  his  poor 
discomfited  beast,  as  he  stood  with  hanging  head  and  heav- 
ing flanks,  as  though  to  say  it  was  a  disgraceful  thing  for  an 
animal  that  had  the  honor  to  carry  him  to  look  so  craven 
and  disheartened.  Temple,  with  the  instincts  of  his  craft 
and  calling,  cared  little  for  the  past,  and  took  but  small 
interest  in  the  horse  that  was  not  likely  to  be  soon  of  use  to 
him ;  while  Jack,  with  all  a  sailor's  energy,  worked  away 
manfully,  and  assisted  the  grooms  in  every  way  he  could. 
It  was  at  the  end  of  a  ver}^  active  morning,  that  Jack  was 
returning  to  the  house,  when  he  saw  L'Estrange's  pony-chaise 
at  the  door,  with  black  Nora  in  the  shafts,  as  fresh  and 
hearty  to  all  seeming  as  though  she  had  not  carried  her 
heavy  owner  through  one  of  the  stiffest  runs  of  the  season 
only  the  day  before. 

"Is  your  master  here,  Bill?"  asked  Jack  of  the  small 
urchin,  who  barely  reached  the  bar  of  the  b[t. 

"  No,  sir ;  it 's  Miss  Julia  has  druv  over.  Master 's  fishing 
this  morninor." 


ON  THE   CROQUET  LAWN.  21 

Novv^  Julia  L'Estrange  was  a  very  pretty  girl,  and  with  a 
captivation  of  manner  which  to  the  young  sailor  was  irre- 
sistible.    She  had  been  brought  up  in  France,  and  imbibed 
that  peculiar  quiet  coquetry  which,  in  its  quaint  demureness, ! 
suggests  just  enough  doubt  of  its  sincerity  to  be  provocative.  • 
She  was  dark  enough  to  be  a  Spaniard  from  the  south  of  | 
Spain,  and  her  long  black  eyelashes  were  darker  even  than  • 
her  eyes.     In  her  walk  and  her  gesture  there  was  that  also  , 
which  reminded  one  of  Spain :   the  same  blended  litheness  | 
and  dignity ;  and  there  was  a  firmness  in  her  tread  which  j 
took  nothing  from  its  elasticity. 

When  Jack  heard  that  she  was  in  the  house,  instead  of 
hurrying  in  to  meet  her  he  sat  moodily  down  on  the  steps 
of  the  door  and  lighted  his  cigar.  "What's  the  use?" 
muttered  he,  and  the  same  depressing  sentence  recurred  to 
him  again  and  again.  They  are  very  dark  moments  in  life 
in  which  we  have  to  confess  to  ourselves  that,  fight  how  we 
may,  fate  must  beat  us ;  that  the  very  utmost  we  can  do  is 
to  maintain  a  fierce  struggle  with  destiny,  but  that  in  the 
end  we  must  succumb.  The  more  frequently  poor  Jack 
saw  her,  the  more  hopelessly  he  felt  his  lot.  What  was 
he  —  what  could  he  ever  be  —  to  aspire  to  such  a  girl  as 
Julia?  Was  not  the  very  presumption  a  thing  to  laugh  at? 
He  thought  of  how  his  elder  brother  would  entertain  such 
a  notion ;  the  cold  solemnity  with  which  he  would  ridicule 
his  pretensions ;  and  then  Temple  would  treat  him  to  some 
profound  reflections  on  the  misery  of  poor  marriages ;  while 
Marion  would  chime  in  with  some  cutting  reproaches  on  the 
selfishness  with  which,  to  gratify  a  caprice,  —  she  would  call 
it  a  caprice,  —  he  ignored  the  just  pretensions  of  his  family, 
and  the  imperative  necessity  that  pressed  them  to  secure 
their  position  in  the  world  by  great  alliances.  This  wasf 
Marion's  code  :  it  took  three  generations  to  make  a  family ;  I 
the  first  must  be  wealthy;  the  second,  by  the  united  force' 
of  money  and  ability,  secure  a  certain  station  of  power 
and  social  influence ;  the  third  must  fortify  these  by  mar- 
riages, —  marriages  of  distinction ,  after  which  mere  time 
would  do  the  rest. 

She  had  hoped  much  from  her  father's  second  marriage, 
and  was  grievously  disappointed  on  finding  how  her  step- 


22  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

mother's  family  affected  displeasure  at  the  match  as  a  reason 
for  a  coldness  towards  them ;  while  Lady  Augusta  herself 
as  openly  showed  that  she  had  stooped  to  the  union  merely 
to  secure  herself  against  the  accidents  of  life  and  raise  her 
above  the  misery  of  living  on  a  very  small  income. 

Jack  was  thinking  moodily  over  all  these  things  as  he  sat 
there,  and  with  such  depression  of  spirit  that  he  half  re- 
solved, instead  of  staying  out  his  full  leave,  to  return  to 
his  ship  at  Portsmouth,  and  so  forget  shore  life  and  all  its 
fascinations.  He  heard  the  sound  of  a  piano,  and  shortly 
after  the  rich,  delicious  tones  of  Julia's  voice.  It  was  that 
mellow  quality  of  sound  that  musicians  call  mezzo  soprano, 
i  whose  gift  it  is  to  steal  softly  over  the  senses  and  steep 
jthem  in  a  sweet  rapture  of  peaceful  delight.  As  the  strains 
floated  out,  he  felt  as  though  the  measure  of  incantation 
was  running  over  for  him,  and  he  arose  with  a  bound,  and 
hurried  off  into  the  wood.  "  I  '11  start  to-morrow.  I  '11 
not  let  this  folly  master  me,"  muttered  he.  "A  fellow  who 
can't  stand  up  against  his  own  fancies  is  not  worth  his 
salt.  I'll  go  on  board  again  and  think  of  my  duty,"  and 
he  tried  to  assure  himself  that  of  all  living  men  a  sailor 
had  least  excuse  for  such  weaknesses  as  these. 

He  had  not  much  sympathy  with  the  family  ambitions. 
He  thought  that  as  they  had  wealth  enough  to  live  well  and 
handsomely,  a  good  station  in  the  world,  and  not  any  one 
detracting  element  from  their  good  luck,  either  as  regarded 
character  or  health,  it  was  downright  ingratitude  to  go  in 
search  of  disappointments  and  defeats.  It  was,  to  his  think- 
ing, like  a  ship  with  plenty  of  sea-room  rushing  madly  on  to 
her  ruin  amongst  the  breakers.  "  I  think  Nelly  is  of  my 
own  mind,"  said  he,  "  but  who  can  say  how  long  she  will 
continue  to  be  so?  these  stupid  notions  of  being  great  folk 
will  get  hold  of  her  at  last.  The  high-minded  Marion  and 
that  great  genius  Temple  are  certain  to  prevail  in  the  end, 
and  I  shall  always  be  a  splendid  example  to  point  at  and 
show  the  melancholy  consequences  of  degenerate  tastes  and 
ignoble  ambitions." 

The  sharp  trot  of  a  horse  on  the  gravel  road  beside  him 
startled  him  in  bis  musings,  and  the  pony-carriage  whisked 
rapidly  by;  Augustus  driving  and  Julia  at  his  side.     She 


ON  THE    CROQUET  LAWN.  23 

was  laughing.  Her  merry  laugh  rang  out  above  the  brisk 
jingle  of  horse  and  harness,  and  to  the  poor  sailor  it  sounded 
like  the  knell  of  all  his  hopes.  "  What  a  confounded  fool 
I  was  not  to  remember  I  had  an  elder  brother,"  said  he, 
bitterly.  That  he  added  something  inaudible  about  the  per- 
fidious nature  of  girls  is  possibly  true,  but  not  being  in 
evidence,  it  is  not  necessary  to  record  it. 

Let  us  turn  from  the  disconsolate  youth  to  what  is  certes 
a  prettier  picture  —  the  croquet  lawn  behind  the  house, 
where  the  two  sisters,  with  the  accomplished  Temple,  were 
engaged  at  a  game. 

"  I  hope,  girls,"  said  he,  in  one  of  his  very  finest  drawls, 
''  the  future  head  of  house  and  hopes  is  not  going  to  make 
a  precious  fool  of  himself." 

"  You  mean  with  the  curate's  sister,"  said  Marion,  with 
a  saucy  toss  of  her  head.  ''I  scarcely  think  he  could  be 
so  absurd." 

"  I  can't  see  the  absurdity,"  broke  in  Ellen.  "  I  think  a 
duke  might  make  her  a  duchess,  and  no  great  condescension 
in  the  act." 

"  Quite  true,  Nelly,"  said  Temple;  "  that 's  exactly  what 
a  duke  might  do;  but  Mr.  Bramleigh  cannot.  When  you 
are  at  the  top  of  the  ladder,  there  's  nothing  left  for  you  but 
to  come  down  again ;  but  the  man  at  the  bottom  has  to  try 
to  go  up." 

"  But  why  must  there  be  a  ladder  at  all.  Temple?  "  asked 
she,  eagerly. 

"Isn't  that  speech  Nelly  all  over?"  cried  Marion, 
haughtily. 

"  I  hope  it  is,"  said  Ellen,  "if  it  serves  to  convey  what  I 
faithfully  believe,  —  that  we  are  great  fools  in  not  enjoying 
a  very  pleasant  lot  in  life  instead  of  addressing  ourselves  to 
ambitions  far  and  away  beyond  us." 

"And  which  be  they?  "  asked  Temple,  crossing  his  arms 
over  his  mallet,  and  standing  tike  a  soldier  on  guard. 

"To  be  high  and  titled,  or  if  not  titled,  to  be  accepted 
among  that  class,  and  treated  as  their  equals  in  rank  and 
condition." 

"  And  why  not,  Nelly?  What  is  this  wonderful  ten 
thousand  that  we  all  worship?     Whence  is  it  recruited,  and 


24  THE   BRAMLEIGIIS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

how?  These  double  wall-flowers  are  not  of  Nature's  making ; 
they  all  come  of  culture,  of  fine  mould,  careful  watering, 
and  good  gardening.  They  were  siugle-petaled  once  on  a 
time,  like  ourselves.  Mind,  it  is  no  radical  says  this,  girls, 
—  moi  qui  vous  parte  am  no  revolutionist,  no  leveller !  I 
like  these  grand  conditions,  because  they  give  existence  its 
best  stimulus,  its  noblest  aspirations.  The  higher  one  goes 
in  life,  —  as  on  a  mountain,  —  the  more  pure  the  air  and  the 
wider  the  view." 

"  And  do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  Augustus  would  con- 
sult his  happiness  better  in  marrying  some  fine  lady,  like 
our  grand  step-mamma  for  instance,  than  a  charming  girl 
like  Julia?"  said  Ellen. 

''  If  Augustus'  notions  of  happiness  were  to  be  measured 
by  mine,  I  should  say  yes,  unquestionably  yes.  Love  is 
a  very  fleeting  sentiment.  The  cost  of  the  article,  too, 
suggests  most  uncomfortable  reflections.  All  the  more  as 
the  memory  comes  when  the  acquisition  itself  is  beginning 
to  lose  value.  My  former  chief  at  Munich  —  the  cleverest 
man  of  the  world  I  ever  met  —  used  to  say,  as  an  invest- 
ment, a  pretty  wife  was  a  mistake.  '  If,'  said  he,  '  you 
laid  out  your  money  on  a  picture,  your  venture  might  turn 
out  a  bargain;  if  you  bought  a  colt,  your  two-year-old 
might  win  a  Derby  ;  but  your  beauty  of  to-day  will  be  barely 
good-looking  in  five  years,  and  will  be  a  positive  fright  in 
fifteen.'  " 

"Your  accomplished  friend  was  an  odious  beast!"  said 
Nelly.     "What  was  his  name.  Temple?" 

"  Lord  Culduff,  one  of  the  first  diplomatists  in  Europe." 

"  Culduff?  How  strange!  Papa's  agent,  Mr.  Harding, 
mentioned  the  name  at  breakfast.  He  said  there  was  a 
nobleman  come  over  from  Germany  to  see  his  estates  in  the 
north  of  Down,  where  they  had  some  hopes  of  having  dis- 
covered coal." 

"Is  it  possible  Lord  Culduff  could  be  in  our  neighbor- 
hood? The  governor  must  ask  him  here  at  once,"  said 
Temple,  with  an  animation  of  manner  most  unusual  with 
him.  "  There  must  be  no  time  lost  about  this.  Finish  your 
game  without  me,  girls,  for  this  matter  is  imminent ;  "  and  so 
saying,  he  resigned  his  mallet  and  hastened  away  to  the  house. 


ON  THE   CROQUET   LAWN.  20 

"  I  never  saw  Temple  so  eager  about  anything  before," 
said  Nelly.  ''It's  quite  charming  to  see  how  the  mere 
mention  of  a  grand  name  can  call  forth  all  his  energy." 

"Temple  knows  the  world  very  well;  and  he  knows  how 
the  whole  game  of  life  is  conducted  by  a  very  few  players, 
and  that  every  one  who  desires  to  push  his  way  must  secure 
the  intimacy,  if  he  can,  or  at  least  the  acquaintance,  of 
these."  And  Marion  delivered  this  speech  with  a  most 
oracular  and  pretentious  tone. 

"  Yes,"  said  Nelly,  with  a  droll  sparkle  in  her  eye;  "  he 
declared  that  profound  statement  last  evening  in  the  very 
same  words.  AVho  shall  say  it  is  not  an  immense  advantage 
to  have  a  brother  so  full  of  sage  maxims,  while  his  sisters 
are  seen  to  catch  up  his  words  of  wisdom,  and  actually 
believe  them  to  be  their  own  ?  " 

"  Temple  may  not  be  a  Talleyrand  ;  but  he  is  certainly  as 
brilliant  as  the  charming  curate,"  said  Marion,  tartly. 

"  Oh,  poor  George !  "  cried  Nelly;  and  her  cheek  flushed, 
while  she  tried  to  seem  indifferent.  "  Nobody  ever  called 
him  a  genius.  When  one  says  he  is  very  good-looking  and 
very  good-humored,  tout  est  dit ! " 

"  He  is  very  much  out  of  place  as  a  parson." 

"  Granted.     I  suspect  he  thinks  so  himself." 

"  Men  usually  feel  that  they  cannot  take  orders  without 
some  stronger  impulse  than  a  mere  desire  to  gain  a 
livelihood." 

"  I  have  never  talked  to  him  on  the  matter;  but  perhaps 
he  had  no  great  choice  of  a  career." 

"He  might  have  gone'into  the  army,  I  suppose?  He'd 
have  found  scores  of  creatures  there  with  about  his  own 
measure  of  intelligence." 

"  I  fancied  you  liked  George,  Marion,"  said  the  other. 
And  there  was  something  half  tender,  half  reproachful,  in 
her  tone. 

"  I  liked  him  so  far,  that  it  was  a  boon  to  find  anything  so 
like  a  gentleman  in  this  wild  savagery ;  but  if  you  mean  that 
I  would  have  endured  him  in  town,  or  would  have  noticed 
him  in  society,  you  are  strangely  mistaken." 

"Poor  George!"  and  there  was  something  comic  in  her 
ojlance  as  she  sighed  these  words  out. 


26  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

"  There ;  you  have  won,"  said  Marion,  throwing  down  her 
mallet.  "  I  must  go  and  hear  what  Temple  is  going  to  do. 
It  would  be  a  great  blessing  to  see  a  man  of  the  world  and  a 
man  of  mark  in  this  dreary  spot,  and  I  hope  papa  will  not 
lose  the  present  opportunity  to  secure  him." 

"Are  you  alone,  Nelly?"  said  her  eldest  brother,  some 
time  after,  as  he  came  up,  and  found  her  sitting,  lost  in 
thought,  under  a  tree. 

"Yes.  Marion  got  tired  and  went  in,  and  Temple  went 
to  ask  papa  about  inviting  some  high  and  mighty  personage 
who  chances  to  be  in  our  neighborhood." 

"Who  is  he?" 

"  Lord  Culduff,  he  called  him." 

"Oh!  a  tremendous  swell;  an  ambassador  somewhere. 
What  brings  him  down  here  ?  " 

"  I  forget.  Yes  !  it  was  something  about  a  mine  ;  he  has 
found  tin,  or  copper,  or  coal,  I  don't  remember  which,  on 
some  property  of  his  here.  By  the  way,  Augustus,  do  you 
really  think  George  L'Estrange  a  fool?" 

"Think  him  a  fool?" 

"  I  mean,"  said  she,  blushing  deeply,  "Marion  holds  his 
intelligence  so  cheaply  that  she  is  quite  shocked  at  his  pre- 
suming to  be  in  orders." 

"  AYell,  I  don't  think  him  exactly  what  Temple  calls  an 
esprit  fort,  but  he  is  a  very  nice  fellow,  very  companionable, 
and  a  thorough  gentleman  in  all  respects." 

"  How  well  you  have  said  it,  dear  Augustus,"  said  she, 
with  a  face  beaming  with  delight.  "  Where  are  you  off  to? 
Where  are  you  going?" 

"  I  am  going  to  see  the  yearlings,  in  the  paddock  below 
the  river." 

"  May  I  go  with  you,  Gussy?  "  said  she,  drawing  her  arm 
within  his.  "  I  do  like  a  brisk  walk  with  you;  and  you 
always  go  like  one  with  a  purpose." 


CHAPTER  V. 

CONFIDENTIAL    TALK. 

Temple  found  his  father  in  his  study,  deeply  engaged  with 
a  mass  of  papers  and  letters,  and  by  the  worn  and  fatigued 
expression  of  his  face  showing  that  he  had  passed  a  day  of 
hard  work. 

"  I  hope  I  do  not  disturb  you,"  said  Temple,  as  he  leaned 
on  the  table  at  which  the  other  was  seated. 

"  Throw  that  cigar  away,  and  I'll  tell  you,"  said  the  old 
man,  with  a  faint  smile.  *'  I  never  can  conquer  my  aversion 
to  tobacco.  What  do  you  want  to  say  ?  Is  it  anything  we 
cannot  talk  over  at  dinner,  or  after  dinner?  —  for  this  post 
leaves  at  such  an  inconvenient  hour,  it  gives  me  scant  time 
to  write." 

"I  beg  a  thousand  pardons,  sir;  but  I  have  just  heard 
that  a  very  distinguished  member  of  our  corps  —  I  mean  the 
diplomatic  corps  —  is  down  in  this  neighborhood,  and  I  want 
your  permission  to  ask  him  over  here." 

"Who  is  he?" 

"Lord  Culdufe." 

"  What !  that  old  scamp  who  ran  away  with  Lady  Clifford? 
I  thought  he  could  n't  come  to  England  ?  " 

"  Why,  sir,  he  is  one  of  the  first  men  we  have.  It  was  he 
that  negotiated  the  Erzeroum  treaty,  and  I  heard  Sir  Stam- 
ford Bolter  say  he  was  the  only  man  in  England  who  under- 
stood the  Sound  dues." 

"He  ran  off  with  another  man's  wife,  and  I  don't  like 
that." 

"Well,  sir,  as  he  didn't  marry  her  afterwards,  it  was 
clear  it  was  only  a  passing  indiscretion." 

"  Oh,  indeed !  that  view  of  it  never  occurred  to  me.  I 
suppose,  then,  it  is  in  this  light  the  corps  regards  it?" 


28  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

"  I  trust  so,  sir.  Where  there  is  no  complication  there  is 
no  loss  of  character;  and  as  Lord  Culduff  is  received  every- 
where, and  courted  in  the  very  best  circles,  I  think  it  would 
be  somewhat  strange  if  we  were  to  set  up  to  teach  the  world 
how  it  ought  to  treat  him." 

"I  have  no  such  pretension.  I  simply  claim  the  right  to 
choose  the  people  I  invite  to  my  house." 

"  He  may  be  my  chief  to-morrow  or  next  day,"  said 
Temple. 

"  So  much  the  worse  for  you." 

"Certainly  not,  sir,  if  we  seize  the  opportunity  to  show 
him  some  attentions.  He  is  a  most  high-bred  gentleman, 
and  from  his  abilities,  his  rank,  and  his  connections,  sure  to 
be  at  the  head  of  the  line ;  and  I  confess  I  'd  be  very  much 
ashamed  if  he  were  to  hear,  as  he  is  sure  to  hear,  that  I  was 
in  his  vicinity  without  my  ever  having  gone  to  wait  on  him." 

"  Go  by  all  means,  then.  Wait  upon  him  at  once,  Tem- 
ple;  but  I  tell  you  frankly,  I  don't  fancy  presenting  such 
a  man  to  your  sisters." 

"  Why,  sir,  there  is  not  a  more  unobjectionable  man  in  all 
England ;  his  manners  are  the  very  type  of  respectful  defer- 
ence towards  ladies.  He  belongs  to  that  old  school  which 
professes  to  be  shocked  with  modern  levity,  while  his  whole 
conversation  is  a  sort  of  quiet  homage." 

"  Well,  well ;  how  long  would  he  stay,  —  a  week?  " 

"A  couple  of  days,  perhaps,  if  he  came  at  all.  Indeed, 
I  greatly  doubt  that  he  would  come.  They  say  he  is  here 
about  some  coal-mine  they  have  discovered  on  his  property." 

"  What!  has  he  found  coal?"  cried  the  old  man,  eagerly. 

"  So  it  is  said,  sir ;  or,  at  least,  he  hopes  so." 

"  It's  only  lignite.  I  'm  certain  it 's  only  lignite.  I  have 
been  deceived  myself  twice  or  thrice,  and  I  don't  believe 
coal  —  real  coal  —  exists  in  this  part  of  Ireland." 

"Of  that  I  can  tell  you  nothing;  he,  however,  will  only 
be  too  glad  to  talk  the  matter  over  with  you." 

"Yes;  it  is  an  interesting  topic,  —  very  interesting. 
Snell  says  that  the  great  carboniferous  strata  are  all  in 
Ireland,  but  that  they  lie  deep,  and  demand  vast  capital  to 
work  them.  He  predicts  a  great  manufacturing  prosperity 
to  the  country  when  Manchester  and  Birmingham  will  have 


CONFIDENTIAL  TALK.  29 

sunk  into  ruins.  He  opines  that  this  lignite  is  a  mere  in- 
dication of  the  immense  vein  of  true  carbon  beneath.  But 
what  should  this  old  debauchee  know  of  a  great  industrial 
theme !  His  whole  anxiety  will  be  to  turn  it  to  some  im- 
mediate profit.  He  '11  be  looking  for  a  loan,  you  '11  see. 
Mark  my  words,  Temple,  he  '11  want  an  advance  on  his 
colliery."  And  he  gave  one  of  those  rich  chuckling  laughs 
which  are  as  peculiar  to  the  moneyed  classes  as  ever  a  sim- 
pering smile  was  to  enamelled  beauty. 

"I  don't  say,"  added  he,  after  a  moment,  "  that  the 
scheme  may  not  be  a  good  one,  —  an  excellent  one.  Samp- 
son says  that  all  manufactures  will  be  transferred  to  Ireland 
yet,  —  that  this  will  be  in  some  future  time  the  great  seat 
of  national  industry  and  national  wealth.  Let  your  grand 
friend  come  then,  by  all  means ;  there  is  at  least  one  topic 
we  can  talk  over  together." 

Too  happy  to  risk  the  success  he  had  obtained  by  any 
further  discussion.  Temple  hurried  away  to  give  orders  for 
the  great  man's  reception.  There  was  a  small  suite  of  rooms 
which  had  been  furnished  with  unusual  care  and  elegance 
when  it  was  believed  that  Lady  Augusta  would  have  honored 
Castello  with  her  presence.  Indeed,  she  had  so  far  favored 
the  belief  as  to  design  some  of  the  decorations  herself,  and 
had  photographs  taken  of  the  rooms  and  the  furniture,  as 
well  as  of  the  views  which  presented  themselves  from  the 
windows. 

Though  these  rooms  were  on  the  second  floor,  they  were 
accessible  from  without  by  a  carriage-drive,  which  wound 
gradually  up  among  the  terraced  gardens  to  a  sort  of  plateau 
where  a  marble  fountain  stood,  with  a  group  of  Naiads  in 
the  midst,  over  whom  a  perpetual  spray  fell  like  a  veil ;  the 
whole  surrounded  with  flowery  shrubs  and  rare  plants, 
sheltered  from  east  and  north  by  a  strong  belt  of  trees,  and 
actuall}^  imparting  to  the  favored  spot  the  character  of  a 
southern  climate  and  country. 

As  the  gardener  was  careful  to  replace  the  exhausted  or 
faded  flowers  by  others  in  full  bloom,  and  as  on  every  avail- 
able day  he  displayed  here  the  richest  treasures  of  his  con- 
servatory, there  was  something  singularly  beautiful  in  the 
contrast  of  this  foreground,  glowing  in  tropical  luxuriance, 
with  the  massive  forest-trees  down  below,  and  farther  in  the 


30  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

distance  the  stern  and  rugged  lines  of  the  Mourne  Moun- 
tains, as  they  frowned  on  the  sea. 

Within  doors,  everything  that  wealth  could  contribute  to 
comfort  was  present,  and  though  there  was  magnificence  in 
the  costly  silk  of  the  hangings  and  the  velvety  richness  of 
the  carpets,  the  prevailing  impression  was  that  it  was  enjoy- 
ment, not  splendor,  was  sought  for.  There  were  few  pic- 
tures, —  a  Ruysdael  over  the  fireplace  in  the  drawing-room, 
and  two  or  three  Cuyps,  —  placid  scenes  of  low-lying  land- 
scapes, bathed  in  soft  sunsets.  The  doors  were  all  hidden 
by  heavy  curtains,  and  a  sense  of  voluptuous  snugness 
seemed  the  spirit  of  the  place. 

The  keys  of  this  precious  suite  were  in  Marion's  keeping, 
and  as  she  walked  through  the  rooms  wdth  Temple,  and  ex- 
patiated on  the  reckless  expenditure  bestowed  on  them,  she 
owned  that  for  any  less  distinguished  guest  than  the  great 
diplomatist  she  would  never  have  consented  to  their  being 
opened.  Temple,  however,  was  loud  in  his  praises,  went 
over  his  high  connections  and  titled  relatives,  his  great  ser- 
vices, and  the  immense  reputation  they  had  given  him,  and, 
last  of  all,  he  spoke  of  his  personal  qualities,  the  charm  of 
his  manner,  and  the  captivation  of  his  address,  so  that  finally 
she  became  as  eager  as  himself  to  see  this  great  and  gifted 
man  beneath  their  roof. 

During  the  evening  they  talked  much  together  of  what 
they  should  do  to  entertain  their  illustrious  guest.  There 
was,  so  to  say,  no  neighborhood,  nor  any  possibility  of 
having  people  to  meet  him,  and  they  must,  consequently, 
look  to  their  home  resources  to  amuse  him. 

"I    hope    Augustus   will   be    properly   attentive,"    said 
Temple. 

"  I  'm  certain  he  will.     I  'm  more  afraid  of  Nellie,  if  there 

be  anything  strange  or  peculiar  in  Lord  Culduff's  manner. 

I  She  never  puts  any  curb  on  her  enjoyment  of  an  oddity,  and 

you'll   certainly   have   to   caution   her  that   her  humoristic 

talents  must  be  kept  in  abeyance  just  now." 

"I  can  trust  Lord  Culduff's  manner  to  repress  any  ten- 
dency of  this  kind.     Rely  upon  it,  his  courtly  urbanity  and 
I  high  tone  will  protect  him  from  all  indiscretions ;  and  Nelly, 
'  —  I  'm  sorry  to  say  it,  Marion,  but  Nelly  is  vulgar." 


CONFIDENTIAL  TALK.  31 

*'  She  is  certainly  too  familiar  on  fresh  acquaintance.  I 
have  told  her  more  than  once  that  you  do  not  always  please 
people  by  showing  you  are  on  good  terms  with  yourself.  It 
is  a  great  misfortune  to  her  that  she  never  was  '  out '  before 
she  came  here.  One  season  in  town  would  have  done  more 
for  her  than  all  our  precepts." 

"  Particularly  as  she  heeds  them  so  little,"  said  Temple, 
snappishly. 

"  Cannot  we  manage  to  have  some  people  to  meet  Lord 
Culduff  at  dinner?  Who  are  the  Gages  who  left  their 
cards  ?  " 

"  They  sent  them  —  not  left  them.  Montifort  Gage  is 
the  master  of  the  hounds,  and,  I  believe,  a  person  of  some 
consideration  here.  He  does  not,  however,  appear  to  invite 
much  intimac3^  His  note  acknowledging  our  subscription 
—  it  was  a  hundred  pounds  too  —  was  of  the  coldest, 
and  we  exchanged  a  very  few  formal  words  at  the  meet 
yesterday." 

"Are  we  going  to  repeat  the  Herefordshire  experiment 
here,  then  ?  "  And  she  asked  the  question  with  a  sparkling 
eye  and  a  flushed  cheek,  as  though  the  feeling  it  excited  was 
not  easily  to  be  repressed. 

"  There  's  a  Sir  Roger  Kennedy,  too,  has  called." 

*'Yes,  and  Harding  says  he  is  married;  but  his  wife's 
name  is  not  on  the  card." 

"  I  take  it  they  know  very  little  of  the  habits  of  the  world. 
Let  us  remember,  Marion,  where  we  are.  Iceland  is  next 
door  but  one.  I  thought  Harding  would  have  looked  to  all 
this ;  he  ought  to  have  taken  care  that  the  county  was 
properly  attentive.  An  agent  never  wishes  to  see  his  chief 
reside  on  the  property.  It  is  like  in  my  own  career,  —  one 
is  only  charge  d'affaires  when  the  head  of  the  legation  is  on 
leave." 

' '  And  this  was  the  county  we  were  told  was  ready  to 
receive  us  with  a  sort  of  frantic  enthusiasm.  I  wonder. 
Temple,  do  people  ever  tell  the  truth !  " 

"  Yes,  when  they  want  you  not  to  believe  them.  You  see, 
Marion,  we  blundered  here  pretty  much  as  we  blundered  in 
England.  You  '11  not  get  the  governor  to  believe  it,  nor 
perhaps  even  Augustus,  but  there  is  a  diplomacy  of  every- 


32  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

day  life,  and  people  who  fancy  they  can  dispense  with  it 
invariably  come  to  grief.  Now  I  always  told  them  —  indeed 
I  grew  tired  telling  them  —  every  mile  that  separates  you 
from  a  capital  diminishes  the  power  of  your  money.  In  the 
city  you  reign  supreme,  but  to  be  a  county  magnate  you 
need  scores  of  things  besides  a  long  credit  at  your  banker's." 

A  very  impatient  toss  of  the  head  showed  that  Marion 
herself  was  not  fully  a  convert  to  these  sage  opinions,  and 
it  was  with  a  half-rude  abruptness  that  she  broke  in  by 
asking  how  he  intended  to  convey  his  invitation  to  Lord 
CukUrff.  ^ 

'<'  There  's  the  difficulty,"  said  he,  gravely.  "  He  is  going 
about  from  one  place  to  another.  Harding  says  he  was  at 
Rathbeggan  on  Sunday  last,  and  was  going  on  to  Dinasker 
next  day.  I  have  been  looking  over  the  map,  but  I  see  no 
roads  to  these  places.  I  think  our  best  plan  is  to  despatch 
Lacy  with  a  letter.  Lacy  is  the  smartest  fellow  we  have, 
and  I  think  will  be  sure  to  find  him.  But  the  letter,  too,  is 
a  puzzle." 

"  Why  should  it  be?  It  will  be,  I  suppose,  a  mere  formal 
invitation  ?  " 

"  No,  no.  It  would  never  do  to  say,  '  Colonel  Bramleigh 
presents  his  compliments,  and  requests '  —  and  so  on.  The 
thing  must  have  another  tone.  It  ought  to  have  a  certain 
turn  of  expression." 

"  I  am  not  aware  of  what  amount  of  acquaintanceship 
exists  between  you  and  Loud  Culduff,"  said  she,   stiffly. 

"  The  very  least  in  life.  I  si^pect  if  we  met  in  a  club  we 
should  pass  without  speaking.  I  arrived  at  his  Legation  on 
the  morning  he  was  starting  on  leave.  I  remember  he  asked 
me  to  breakfast,  but  I  declined,  as  I  had  been  three  days  and 
nights  on  the  road,  and  wanted  to  get  to  bed.  I  never  met 
him  since.     AYhat  makes  you  look  so  serious,  Marion  ?  " 

"I'm  thinking  what  we  shall  do  with  him  if  he  comes. 
Does  he  shoot,  or  hunt,  or  fish?  —can  you  give  him  any  out- 
o'-door  occupation?" 

"I'm  quite  abroad  as  to  all  his  tastes  and  habits.  I  only 
know  so  much  of  him  as  pertains  to  his  character  in  the 
'  line,'  but  I  '11  go  and  write  my  note.  I  '11  come  back  and 
show  you  what  I  have  said,"  added  he,  as  he  gained  the 
door. 


CONFIDENTIAL  TALK.  33 

When  Marion  was  left  alone  to  reflect  over  hei  brother's 
words,  she  was  not  altogether  pleased.  She  was  no  convert 
to  his  opinions  as  to  the  necessity  of  any  peculiar  stratagem 
in  the  campaign  of  life.  She  had  seen  the  house  m  town 
crowded  with  very  great  and  distinguished  company ;  she  had 
observed  how  wealth  asserted  itself  in  society,  and  she  could 
not  perceive  that  in  their  acceptance  by  the  world  there  was 
any  the  slightest  deficiency  of  deference  and  respect.  If 
they  had  failed  in  their  county  experiment  in  England,  it 
was,  she  thought,  because  her  father  rashly  took  up  an 
extreme  position  in  politics,  a  mistake  which  Augustus  indeed 
saw  and  protested  against,  but  which  some  rash  advisers 
were  able  to  over-persuade  the  Colonel  into  adopting. 

Lady  Augusta,  too,  was  an  evidence  that  the  better  classes 
did  not  decline  this  alliance,  and  on  the  whole  she  felt  that 
Temple's  reasonings  were  the  offshoots  of  his  peculiar  set ; 
that  small  priesthood  of  society  who  hold  themselves  so 
essentially  above  the  great  body  of  mankind. 

"Not  tliat  we  must  make  any  more  mistakes,  however," 
thought  she.  ''Not  that  we  can  afford  another  defeat;" 
and  as  she  arrived  at  this  sage  judgment,  Temple  entered, 
with  some  sheets  of  note-paper  in  his  hand. 

"I'm  not  quite  satisfied  with  any  of    these,  Marion;  I 
suspect   I   must   just   content   myself  with   a    mere  formal 
'  requests  the  company.'  " 

"  Let  me  hear  what  you  have  said." 

"  Here  's  the  first,"  said  he,  reading.  "  '  My  dear  Lord, 
^The  lucky  accident  of  your  Lordship's  presence  in  this 
neighborhood  —  which  I  have  only  accidentally  learned.' " 

"Oh,  dear,  no !  that 's  a  chapter  of  '  accidents.'  " 

"  Well ;  listen  to  this  one  :  '  If  I  can  trust  to  a  rumor  that 
has  just  reached  us  here,  but  which,  it  is  possible  our  hopes 
may  have  given  a  credence  to,  that  stern  fact  will  subse- 
quently deny,  or  reject,  or  contradict.'  I  'm  not  fully  sure 
which  verb  to  take." 

"  Much  worse  than  the  other,"  said  Marion. 

"It's  all  the  confounded  language;  I  could  turn  it  in 
French  to  perfection." 

"  But  I  fancied  your  whole  life  was  passed  in  this  sort  of 
phrase-fashioning,  Temple,"  said  she,  half  smiling. 


34  THE   BRAMLEIGHS  OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  Nothing  of  the  kind.  We  keep  the  vernacular  only  for 
post-paper,  and  it  always  begins  :  '  My  Lord,  —Since  by  my 
despatch  No.  7,028,  in  which  I  reported  to  your  Lordship 
the  details  of  an  interview  accorded  me  by  the  Secretary  of 
State  for  Foreign  Affairs  of  this  Government ; '  and  so  on. 
Now  all  this,  to  the  polite  intercourse  of  society,  is  pretty 
much  what  singlestick  is  to  the  rapier.  I  wish  you  'd  do  this 
for  me,  Marion.  After  so  many  balks,  one  always  ends  by 
a  tumble." 

"I  declare,  I  see  no  occasion  for  smartness  or  epigram. 
I  'd  simply  say,  '  I  have  only  just  heard  that  you  are  in  our 
neighborhood,  and  I  beg  to  convey  my  father's  hope  and 
request  that  you  will  not  leave  it  without  giving  us  the  honor 
of  your  company  here.'  You  can  throw  in  as  many  of  your 
personal  sentiments  as  may  serve,  like  wool  in  a  packing- 
case,  to  keep  the  whole  tight  and  compact;  but  I  think 
something  like  that  would  suffice." 

"  Perhaps  so,"  said  he,  musingly,  as  he  once  more  returned 
to  his  room.  When  he  reappeared,  after  some  minutes,  it 
was  with  the  air  and  look  of  a  man  who  had  just  thrown  off 
some  weighty  burden.  "  Thank  Heaven,  it's  done  and  de- 
spatched !  "  said  he.  "I  have  been  looking  over  the  F.  O. 
Guide,  to  see  whether  I  addressed  him  aright.  I  fancied  he 
was  a  Privy  Councillor,  and  I  find  he  is  not;  he  is  a  K.C.B., 
however,  and  a  Guelph,  with  leave  to  wear  the  star." 

"  Very  gratifying  to  us,  —  I  mean  if  he  should  come  here," 
said  she,  with  a  mocking  smile. 

"  Don't  pretend  you  do  not  value  all  these  things  fully  as 
much  as  myself,  Marion.  You  know  well  what  the  world 
thinks  of  them.  These  distinctions  were  no  more  made  by 
us  than  the  money  of  the  realm ;  but  we  use  one  of  them 
like  the  other,  well  aware  that  it  represents  a  certain  value, 
and  is  never  disputed." 

''  How  old  is  your  friend?  " 

"Well,  he  is  certainly  not  young.  Here's  what  F.  O. 
contributes  to  his  biography.  '  Entered  the  army  as  cornet 
in  the  2nd  Life  Guards,  1816.'  A  precious  long  time  ago 
that.  '  First  groom  of  the  bedchamber  —  promoted  — 
placed  on  half-pay  —  entered  diplomatic  service  —  in —  19; 
special    mission    to   Hanover  —  made    K.C.B.  —  contested 


CONFIDENTIAL  TALK.  35 

Essex,  and  returned  on  a  petition  —  went  back  to  diplo- 
macy, and  named  special  envoy  to  Teheran.'  Ah!  now 
we  are  coming  to  his  real  career." 

''Oh,  dear!  I'd  rather  hear  about  him  somewhat  ear- 
lier," said  she,  taking  the  book  out  of  his  hand,  and  throw- 
ing it  on  the  table.  "It  is  a  great  penalty  to  pay  for 
greatness  to  be  gibbeted  in  this  fashion.  Don't  you  think 
so,  Temple?" 

"  I  wish  I  could  see  myself  gibbeted,  as  you  call  it." 

"If  the  will  makes  the  way,  we  ought  to  be  very  great 
people,"  said  she,  with  a  smile,  half  derisive,  half  real. 
"Jack,  perhaps  not;  nor  Ellen.  They  have  booked  them- 
selves in  second-class  carriages." 

"I'll  go  and  look  up  Harding;  he  is  a  secret  sort  of  a 
fellow.  I  believe  all  agents  assume  that  manner  to  every 
one  but  the  head  of  the  house  and  the  heir.  But  perhaps 
I  could  manage  to  find  out  why  these  people  have  not  called 
upon  us ;    there  must  be  something  in  it." 

"  I  protest  I  think  we  ought  to  feel  grateful  to  them ;  an 
exchange  of  hospitalities  with  them  would  be  awful." 

4 '  Very  likely ;  but  I  think  we  ought  to  have  had  the 
choice,  and  this  they  have  not  given  us." 

"  And  even  for  that  I  am  grateful,"  said  she,  as  with  a 
haughty  look  she  rose  and  left  the  room. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

UP    IN    THE    MOUNTAINS. 

About  eighteen  miles  from  Bishop's  Folly,  and  in  the  very 
midst  of  the  Mourne  Mountains,  a  low  spur  of  land  pro- 
jects into  the  sea  by  a  thin,  narrow  promontory,  so  narrow, 
indeed,  that  in  days  of  heavy  sea  and  strong  wind,  the 
waves  have  been  seen  to  meet  across  it.  Some  benevolent 
individual  had  once  conceived  the  idea  of  planting  a  small 
lighthouse  here,  as  a  boon  to  the  fishermen  who  frequent 
the  coast.  The  lighthouse  was  built,  but  never  occupied, 
and  after  standing  some  years  in  a  state  of  half  ruin,  was 
turned  into  a  sort  of  humble  inn  or  shebeen,  most  probably 
a  mere  pretext  to  cover  its  real  employment  as  a  depot  for 
smuggled  goods ;  for  in  the  days  of  high  duties  French  silks 
and  brandies  found  many  channels  into  Ireland  besides  the 
road  that  lay  through  her  Majesty's  customs.  Mr.,  or,  as 
he  was  more  generally  called,  Tim  Mackessy,  the  propri- 
etor, was  a  well-known  man  in  those  parts.  He  followed 
what  in  Ireland  for  some  years  back  has  been  as  much  a 
profession  as  law  or  physic,  and  occasionally  a  more  lucra- 
tive line  than  either,  —  Patriotism.  He  was  one  of  those 
ready,  voluble,  self-asserting  fellows,  who  abound  in  Ire- 
land, but  whose  favor  is  not  the  less  with  their  country- 
men from  the  fact  of  their  frequency.  He  had,  he  said, 
a  father,  who  suffered  for  his  country  in  ninety-eight ;  and 
he  had  himself  maintained  the  family  traditions  by  being 
twice  imprisoned  in  Carrickfergus  jail,  and  narrowly  escap- 
ing transportation  for  life.  On  the  credit  of  this  martyrdom, 
and  the  fact  that  Mr.  O'Connell  once  called  him  ''honest 
Tim  Mackessy,"  he  had  lived  in  honor  and  repute  amongst 
such  of  his  countrymen  as  "  feel  the  yoke  and  abhor  the 
rule  of  the  Saxon." 


UP  IN  THE    MOUNTAINS.  37 

For  the  present,  we  are,  however,  less  occupied  by  Tim 
and  his  political  opinions  than  by  two  guests,  who  had 
arrived  a  couple  of  days  before,  and  were  now  seated  at 
breakfast  in  that  modest  apartment  called  the  best  par- 
lor. Two  men  less  like  in  appearance  might  not  read- 
ily be  found.  One,  thin,  fresh-looking,  with  handsome 
but  haughty  features,  slightly  stooped,  but  to  all  seeming 
as  much  from  habit  as  from  any  debility,  was  Lord  Cul- 
duff ;  his  age  might  be  computed  by  some  reference  to  the 
list  of  his  services,  but  would  have  been  a  puzzling  calcula- 
tion from  a  mere  inspection  of  himself.  In  figure  and  build, 
he  might  be  anything  from  five- and- thirty  to  two  or  three 
and  forty;  in  face,  at  a  close  inspection,  he  might  have 
been  high  up  in  the  sixties. 

His  companion  was  a  middle-sized,  middle-aged  man,  with 
a  mass  of  bushy  curly  black  hair,  a  round  bullet  head,  wide- 
set  eyes,  and  a  short  nose,  of  the  leonine  pattern  ;  his  mouth, 
large  and  thick-lipped,  had  all  that  mobility  that  denotes 
talker  and  eater :  for  Mr.  Cutbill,  civil  engineer  and  archi- 
tect, was  both  garrulous  and  gourmand,  and  lived  in  the 
happy  enjoyment  of  being  thought  excellent  company,  and 
a  first-rate  judge  of  a  dinner.  He  was  musical  too;  he 
played  the  violoncello  with  some  skill,  and  was  an  associate 
of  various  philharmonics,  who  performed  fantasias  and 
fugues  to  dreary  old  ladies  and  snuffy  old  bachelors,  who 
found  the  amusement  an  economy  that  exacted  nothing  more 
costly  than  a  little  patience.  Among  these  Tom  Cutbill  was 
a  man  of  wit  and  man  of  the  world.  His  career  brought 
him  from  time  to  time  into  contact  with  persons  of  high 
station  and  rank,  and  these  he  ventilated  amongst  his  set 
in  the  most  easy  manner,  familiarly  talking  of  Beaufort, 
and  Argyle,  and  Cleveland,  as  though  they  were  household 
words. 

It  was  reported  that  he  had  some  cleverness  as  an  actor ; 
and  he  might  have  had,  for  the  man  treated  life  as  a  drama, 
and  was  eternally  representing  something,  —  some  imaginary 
character,  — till  any  little  fragment  of  reality  in  him  had  been 
entirely  rubbed  out  by  the  process,  and  he  remained  the 
mere  personation  of  whatever  the  society  he  chanced  to  be 
in  wanted  or  demanded  of  him. 


38  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

He  had  been  recommended  to  Lord  Culduff's  notice  by 
his  Lordship's  London  agent,  who  had  said,  "He  knows 
the  scientific  part  of  his  business  as  well  as  the  great  swells 
of  his  profession,  and  he  knows  the  world  a  precious  sight 
better  than  they  do.  TJiey  could  tell  you  if  you  have  coal, 
but  he  will  do  that  and  more ;  he  will  tell  you  what  to  do 
with  it."  It  was  on  the  advice  thus  given  Lord  Culduff 
had  secured  his  services,  and  taken  him  over  to  Ireland. 
It  was  a  bitter  pill  to  swallow,  for  this  old  broken-down 
man  of  fashion,  self-indulgent,  fastidious,  and  refined,  to 
travel  in  such  company ;  but  his  affairs  were  in  a  sad  state, 
from  years  of  extravagance  and  high  living,  and  it  was 
only  by  the  supposed  discovery  of  these  mines  on  this  un- 
profitable part  of  his  estate  that  his  creditors  consented  to 
defer  that  settlement  which  might  sweep  away  almost  all 
that  remained  to  him.  Cutbill  was  told,  too,  —  "  His  Lord- 
ship is  rather  hard  up  just  now,  and  cannot  be  liberal  as 
he  could  wish ;  but  he  is  a  charming  person  to  know,  and 
will  treat  you  like  a  brother."  The  one  chink  in  this  shrewd 
fellow's  armor  was  his  snobbery.  It  was  told  of  him  once, 
in  a  very  dangerous  illness,  when  all  means  of  inducing 
perspiration  had  failed,  that  some  one  said,  ''Try  him 
with  a  lord ;  it  never  failed  with  Tom  yet."  If  an  untitled 
squire  had  proposed  to  take  Mr.  Cutbill  over  special  to 
Ireland  for  a  hundred  pound  note  and  his  expenses,  he 
would  have  indignantly  refused  the  offer,  and  assisted  the 
proposer  besides  to  some  unpalatable  reflections  on  his 
knowledge  of  life ;  the  thought,  however,  of  journeying  as 
Lord  Culduff's  intimate  friend,  being  treated  as  his  brother, 
thrown,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  country  they  travelled 
in,  into  close  relations,  and  left  free  to  improve  the  ac- 
quaintance by  all  those  social  wiles  and  accomplishments 
on  which  he  felt  he  could  pride  himself,  was  a  bribe  not  to 
be  resisted.  And  thus  was  it  that  these  two  men,  so  un- 
like in  every  respect,  found  themselves  fellow-travellers  and 
companions. 

A  number  of  papers,  plans,  and  drawings  littered  the 
breakfast-table  at  which  they  were  seated,  and  one  of  these, 
representing  the  little  promontory  of  arid  rock,  tastefully 
colored  and  converted  into  a  handsome  pier,  with  flights  of 


UP  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS.  39 

steps  descending  to  the  water,  and  massive  cranes  swinging 
bulky  masses  of  merchandise  into  tall-masted  ships,  was 
just  then  beneath  his  Lordship's  double  eyeglass. 

'*  Where  may  all  this  be,  Cutbill?  is  it  Irish?"  asked  he. 

"It  is  to  be  out  yonder,  my  Lord,"  said  he,  pointing 
through  the  little  window  to  the  rugged  line  of  rocks,  over 
which  the  sea  was  breaking  in  measured  rhythm. 

"You  don't  mean  there?'*  said  Lord  Culduff,  half 
horrified. 

"  Yes,  my  Lord,  there!  Your  Lordship  is  doubtless  not 
aware  that  of  all  her  Majesty's  faithful  lieges  the  specula- 
tive are  the  least  gifted  with  the  imaginative  faculty,  and 
to  supply  this  unhappy  want  in  their  natures,  we  whose 
function  it  is  to  suggest  great  industrial  schemes  or  large 
undertakings  —  we  '  promoters,'  as  we  are  called,  are  obliged 
to  supply,  not  merely  by  description,  but  actually  pictorially, 
the  results  which  success  will  in  due  time  arrive  at.  We 
have,  as  the  poet  says,  to  annihilate  '  both  time  and  space,' 
and  arrive  at  a  goal  which  no  effort  of  these  worthy  people's 
minds  could  possibly  attain  to.  What  your  Lordship  is  now 
looking  at  is  a  case  in  point,  and  however  little  promising 
the  present  aspect  of  that  coast-line  may  seem,  time  and 
money  —  yes,  my  Lord,  time  and  money  —  the  two  springs 
of  all  success  —  will  make  even  greater  change  than  you  see 
depicted  here." 

Mr.  Cutbill  delivered  these  words  with  a  somewhat  pom- 
pous tone,  and  in  a  voice  such  as  he  might  have  used  in 
addressing  an  acting  committee  or  a  special  board  of  works ; 
for  one  of  his  fancies  was  to  believe  himself  an  orator  of  no 
mean  power. 

"  I  trust—  I  fervently  trust,  Mr.  Cutbill,"  said  his  Lord- 
ship, nervously,  "  that  the  coal-fields  are  somewhat  nigher 
the  stage  of  being  remunerative  than  that  broken  line  of 
rock  is  to  this  fanciful  picture  before  me." 

"  Wealth,  my  Lord,  like  heat,  has  its  latent  conditions." 

"  Condescend  to  a  more  commonplace  tone,  sir,  in  con- 
sideration of  my  ignorance,  and  tell  me  frankly,  is  the  mine 
as  far  from  reality  as  that  reef  there  ?  " 

Fortunately  for  Mr.  Cutbill,  perhaps,  the  door  was  opened 
at  this  critical  juncture,  and  the  landlord  presented  himself 


40  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

with  a  note,  stating  that  the  groom  who  brought  it  would 
wait  for  the  answer. 

Somewhat  agitated  by  the  turn  of  his  conversation  with 
the  engineer,  Lord  Culduff  tore  open  the  letter,  and  ran  his 
eyes  towards  the  end  to  see  the  signature. 

"  Who  is  Bramleigh  —  Temple  Bramleigh  ?  Oh,  I  remem- 
\)er,  —  an  attache.  What 's  all  this  about  Castello ?-  Where  's 
Castello?" 

"That's  the  name  they  give  the  Bishop's  Folly,  my 
Lord,"  said  the  landlord,  with  a  half  grin. 

*' What  business  have  these  people  to  know  I  am  here  at 
all?  Why  must  they  persecute  me?  You  told  me,  Cutbill, 
that  I  was  not  to  be  discovered." 

"So  I  did,  my  Lord,  and  I  made  the  'Down  Express' 
call  you  Mr.  Morris,  of  Charing  Cross." 

His  Lordship  winced  a  little  at  the  thought  of  such  a 
liberty,  even  for  a  disguise,  but  he  was  now  engaged  with 
the  note,  and  read  on  without  speaking. 

"  Nothing  could  be  more  courteous,  certainly,"  said  he, 
folding  it  up,  and  laying  it  beside  him  on  the  table.  "  They 
invite  me  over  to  —  what's  the  name?  —  Castello,  and  pro- 
mise me  perfect  liberty  as  regards  my  time.  '  To  make 
the  place  my  headquarters,'  as  he  says.  Who  are  these 
Bramleighs?  You  know  every  one,  Cutbill;  who  are 
they?" 

"Bramleigh  and  Underwood  are  bankers,  very  old  estab- 
lished firm.  Old  Bramleigh  was  a  brewer,  at  Slough; 
George  the  Third  never  would  drink  any  other  stout  than 
Bramleigh's.  There  was  a  large  silver  flagon,  called  the 
*  King's  Quaigh,'  always  brought  out  when  his  Majesty  rode 
by,  and  very  vain  old  Bramleigh  used  to  be  of  it,  though  I 
don't  think  it  figures  now  on  the  son's  sideboard,  —  they  have 
leased  the  brewery." 

"  Oh,  they  have  leased  the  brewery,  have  they?" 

"That  they  have;  the  present  man  got  himself  made 
Colonel  of  militia,  and  meant  to  be  a  county  member,  and 
he  might,  too,  if  he  had  n't  been  in  too  great  a  hurry  about 
it ;  but  county  people  won't  stand  being  carried  by  assault. 
Then  they  made  other  mistakes;  tried  it  on  with  the 
Liberals,  in  a  shu'e  where  everything  that  called  itself  gen- 


UP  IN  THE   MOUNTAINS.  41 

tleman  was  Tory ;  in  fact,  they  plunged  from  one  hole  into 
another,  till  they  regularly  swamped  themselves ;  and  as 
their  house  held  a  large  mortgage  on  these  estates  in  Ireland, 
they  paid  off  the  other  incumbrances  and  have  come  to  live 
here.  I  know  the  whole  story,  for  it  was  an  old  friend  of 
mine  who  made  the  plans  for  restoring  the  mansion." 

"  I  suspect  that  the  men  in  your  profession,  Cutbill,  know 
as  much  of  the  private  history  of  English  families  as  any  in 
the  land?" 

"More,  my  Lord;  far  more  even  than  the  solicitors,  for 
people  suspect  the  solicitors,  and  they  never  suspect  us.  We 
are  detectives  in  plain  clothes." 

The  pleasant  chuckle  with  which  Mr.  Cutbill  finished  his 
speech  was  not  responded  to  by  his  Lordship,  who  felt  that 
the  other  should  have  accepted  his  compliment,  without  any 
attempt  on  his  own  part  to  "  cap  "  it. 

"  How  long  do  you  imagine  I  may  be  detained  here.  Cut- 
bill  ?  "  asked  he,  after  a  pause. 

"  Let  us  say  a  week,  my  Lord,  or  ten  days  at  furthest. 
We  ought  certainly  to  see  that  new  pit  opened,  before  you 
leave." 

"  In  that  case  I  may  as  well  accept  this  invitation.  I  can 
bear  a  little  boredom  if  they  have  only  a  good  cook.  Do 
you  suppose  they  have  a  good  cook  ?  " 

"  The  agent,  Jos  Harding,  told  me  they  had  a  Frenchman, 
and  that  the  house  is  splendidly  got  up." 

"  What's  to  be  done  with  you^  Cutbill,  eh?" 

"  I  am  at  your  Lordship's  orders,"  said  he,  with  a  very 
quiet  composure. 

"  You  have  nothing  to  do  over  at  that  place  just  now?  — 
I  mean  at  the  mine." 

"  No,  my  Lord.  Till  Pollard  makes  his  report,  I  have 
nothing  to  call  me  over  there." 

"  And  here,  I  take  it,  we  have  seen  everything,"  and  he 
gave  a  very  hopeless  look  through  the  little  window  as  he 
spoke. 

"  There  it  is,  my  Lord,"  said  Cutbill,  taking  up  the 
colored  picture  of  the  pier,  with  its  busy  crowds,  and  its 
bustling  porters.     "There  it  is!" 

*'  I   should    say,  Cutbill,  there  it  is  not !  "  observed  the 


42  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

other,  bitterly.  "Anything  more  unlike  the  reality  is  hard 
to  conceive." 

"  Few  things  are  as  unlike  a  cornet  in  the  Life  Guards  as 
a  child  in  a  perambulator  —  " 

"Very  well,  all  that,"  interrupted  Lord  Culduff,  impa- 
tiently. "  I  know  that  sort  of  argument  perfectly.  I  have 
been  pestered  with  the  acorn,  or,  rather,  with  the  unborn 
forests  in  the  heart  of  the  acorn,  for  many  a  day.  Let  us  get 
a  stride  in  advance  of  these  platitudes.  Is  the  whole  thing 
like  this?"  and  he  threw  the  drawing  across  the  table 
contemptuously  as  he  spoke.  "Is  it  all  of  this  pattern, 
eh?" 

"  In  one  sense  it  is  very  like,"  said  the  other,  with  a 
greater  amount  of  decision  in  his  tone  than  usual. 

"In  which  case,  then,  the  sooner  we  abandon  it  the 
better,"  said  Lord  Culduff,  rising,  and  standing  with  his 
back  to  the  fire,  his  head  high,  and  his  look  intensely 
haughty. 

"It  is  not  for  me  to  dictate  to  your  Lordship,  —  I  could 
never  presume  to  do  so,  —  but  certainly  it  is  not  every  one 
in  Great  Britain  who  could  reconcile  himself  to  relinquish 
one  of  the  largest  sources  of  wealth  in  the  kingdom.  Taking 
the  lowest  estimate  of  Carrick  Nuish  mine  alone,  —  and 
wdien  I  say  the  lowest,  I  mean  throwing  the  whole  thing 
into  a  company  of  shareholders  and  neither  workmg  nor 
risking  a  shilling  yourself, — you  may  put  from  twenty  to 
five-and-twenty  thousand  pounds  into  your  pocket  within  a 
twelvemonth." 

"  Who  will  guarantee  that,  Cutbill?"  said  Lord  Culduff, 
with  a  faint  smile. 

"I  am  ready  myself  to  do  so,  provided  my  counsels  be 
strictly  followed.  I  will  do  so,  with  my  whole  professional 
reputation." 

"  I  am  charmed  to  hear  you  say  so.  It  is  a  very  gratif}^- 
ing  piece  of  news  for  me.  You  feel,  therefore,  certain  that 
we  have  struck  coal?  " 

"  My  Lord,  when  a  young  man  enters  life  from  one  of  the 
universities,  with  a  high  reputation  for  ability,  he  can  go  a 
long'  way,  —  if  he  only  be  prudent,  —  living  on  his  capital. 
It  is  the  same  thing  in  a  great  industrial  enterprise ;  you 


UP  IN  THE   MOUNTAINS.  43 

must  start  at  speed,  and  with  a  high  pressure, —  get  way  on 
you,  as  the  sailors  say,  —  and  you  will  skim  along  for  half  a 
mile  after  the  steam  is  off." 

"  I  come  back  to  my  former  question.  Have  we  found 
coal?" 

"I  hope  so.  I  trust  we  have.  Indeed,  there  is  every 
reason  to  say  we  have  found  coal.  What  we  need  most  at 
this  moment  is  a  man  like  that  gentleman  whose  note  is  on 
the  table,  —  a  large  capitalist,  a  great  City  name.  Let  him 
associate  himself  in  the  project,  and  success  is  as  certain  as 
that  we  stand  here." 

"  But  you  have  just  told  me  he  has  given  up  his  business 
life,  —  retu-ed  from  affairs  altogether." 

"  My  Lord,  these  men  never  give  up.  They  buy  estates, 
they  can  live  at  Rome  or  Paris,  and  take  a  chateau  at 
Cannes,  and  try  to  forget  Mincing  Lane  and  the  rest  of  it ; 
but  if  you  watch  them,  you  '11  see  it 's  the  money  article  in 
the  'Times'  they  read  before  the  leader.  They  have  but 
one  barometer  for  everything  that  happens  in  Europe, —  how 
are  the  exchanges?  and  they  are  just  as  greedy  of  a  good 
thing  as  on  any  morning  they  hurried  down  to  the  City  in 
a  hansom  to  buy  in  or  sell  out.  See  if  I  'm  not  right.  Just 
throw  out  a  hint,  no  more,  that  you  'd  like  a  word  of  advice 
from  Colonel  Bramleigh  about  your  project ;  say  it 's  a  large 
thing,  —  too  large  for  an  individual  to  cope  with,  —  that 
you  are  yourself  the  least  possible  of  a  business  man,  being 
always  engaged  in  very  different  occupations,  —  and  ask 
what  course  he  would  counsel  you  to  take." 

"  I  might  show  him  these  drawings, —  these  colored  plans." 

''Well,  indeed,  my  Lord,"  said  Cutbill,  brushing  his 
mouth  with  his  hand,  to  hide  a  smile  of  malicious  drollery, 
"I'd  say  I'd  not  show  him  the  plans.  The  pictorial  rarely 
appeals  to  men  of  his  stamp.  It 's  the  multiplication-table 
they  like,  and  if  all  the  world  were  like  them  one  would 
never  throw  poetry  into  a  project." 

"^You  '11  have  to  come  with  me,  Cutbill;  I  see  that,"  said 
his  Lordship,  reflectingly. 

"  My  Lord,  I  am  completely  at  your  orders." 

"  Yes ;  this  is  a  sort  of  negotiation  you  will  conduct  bet- 
ter than  myself.     I   am    not   conversant  with  this  sort   of 


44  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

thing,  nor  the  men  who  deal  in  them.  A  great  treaty,  a 
question  of  boundary,  a  royal  marriage,  —  any  of  these 
would  find  me  ready  and  prepared,  but  with  the  diplomacy 
of  dividends,  I  own  myself  little  acquainted.  You  must 
come  with  me." 

Cutbill  bowed  in  acquiescence,  and  was  silent. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

AT    LUNCHEON. 

As  the  family  at  the  great  house  were  gathered  together 
at  luncheon  on  the  day  after  the  events  we  have  just  re- 
corded, Lord  Culduff's  answer  to  Temple  Bramleigh's  note 
was  fully  and  freely  discussed. 

"  Of  course/'  said  Jack,  "  I  speak  under  correction;  but 
how  comes  it  that  your  high  and  mighty  friend  brings  an- 
other man  with  him?  Is  Cutbill  an  attache?  Is  he  one 
of  what  you  call  '  the  line '  ?  " 

"I  am  happy  to  contribute  the  correction  you  ask  for," 
said  Temple,  haughtily.  "Mr.  Cutbill  is  not  a  member  of 
the  diplomatic  body,  and  though  such  a  name  might  not 
impossibly  be  found  in  the  Navy  list,  you  '11  scarcely  chance 
upon  it  at  F.  O." 

"My  chief  question  is,  however,  still  to  be  answered. 
On  what  pretext  does  he  bring  him  here  ?  "  said  Jack,  with 
unbroken  good  humor. 

"As  to  that,"  broke  in  Augustus,  "Lord  Culduff's  note 
is  perfectly  explanatory;  he  says  his  friend  is  travelling 
with  him;  they  came  here  on  a  matter  of  business,  and, 
in  fact,  there  would  be  an  awkwardness  on  his  part  in  sepa- 
rating from  him,  and  on  ours,  if  we  did  not  prevent  such 
a  contingency." 

"  Quite  so,"  chimed  in  Temple.  "  Nothing  could  be  more 
guarded  or  courteous  than  Lord  Culduff's  reply.  It  was  n't 
in  the  least  like  an  Admiralty  minute.  Jack,  or  an  order 
to  Commander  Spiggins,  of  the  '  Snarler,'  to  take  in  five 
hundred  firkins  of  pork." 

"I  might  say,  now,  that  you'll  not  find  that  name  in 
the  Navy  list.  Temple,"  said  the  sailor,  laughing. 

"Do  they  arrive  to-day?"  asked  Marion,  not  a  little 
uncomfortable  at  this  exchange  of  tart  things. 


46  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"To  dinner,"  said  Temple. 

"  I  suppose  we  have  seen  the  last  leg  of  mutton  we  are 
to  meet  with  till  he  goes,"  cried  Jack:  "that  precious 
French  fellow  will  now  give  his  genius  full  play,  and  we'll 
have  to  dine  off  '  salmis  '  and  '  supremes,'  or  make  our  din- 
ner off  bread-and-cheese." 

"Perhaps  you  would  initiate  Bertond  into  the  mystery 
of  a  sea-pie.  Jack,"  said  Temple,  with  a  smile. 

"And  a  precious  mess  the  fellow  would  make  of  it! 
He'd  fill  it  with  cocks'  combs  and  mushrooms,  and  stick 
two  skewers  in  it  with  a  half-boiled  truffle  on  each  —  lucky 
if  there  would  n't  be  a  British  flag  in  spun  sugar  between 
them;  and  he'd  call  the  abomination  '  pate  a  la  gun-room,' 
or  some  such  confounded  name." 

A  low,  quiet  laugh  was  now  heard  from  the  end  of  the 
table,  and  the  company  remembered,  apparently  for  the  first 
time,  that  Mr.  Harding,  the  agent,  was  there,  and  very  bus- 
ily engaged  with  a  broiled  chicken. 

"Ain't  I  right,  Mr.  Harding?"  cried  Jack,  as  he  heard 
the  low  chuckle  of  the  small,  meek,  submissive-looking  lit- 
tle man,  at  the  other  end  of  the  table. 

"Ain't  I  right?" 

"  I  have  met  with  very  good  French  versions  of  English 
cookery  abroad.  Captain  Bramleigh." 

"Don't  call  me  '  captain '  or  I '11  suspect  your  accuracy 
about  the  cookery,"  interrupted  Jack.  "I  fear  I'm  about 
as  far  off  that  rank  as  Bertond  is  from  the  sea-pie." 

"Do  you  know  Cutbill,  Harding?"  said  Augustus,  ad- 
dressing the  agent  in  the  tone  of  an  heir  expectant. 

"  Yes.  We  were  both  examined  in  the  same  case  before 
a  committee  of  the  House,  and  I  made  his  acquaintance 
then." 

"What  sort  of  person  is  he?"    asked  Temple. 

"Is  he  jolly,  Mr.  Harding?  —  that's  the  question,"  cried 
Jack.  "I  suspect  we  shall  be  overborne  by  greatness,  and 
a  jolly  fellow  would  be  a  boon  from  heaven." 

"  I  believe  he  is  what  might  be  called  jolly,"  said  Harding, 
cautiously. 

"Jolly  sounds  like  a  familiar  word  for  vulgar,"  said 
Marion.     '*  I  hope  Mr.  Harding  does  not  mean  that." 


AT   LUNCHEON.  47 

<'  Mr.  Harding  means  nothing  of  that  kind,  I  '11  be  sworn," 
broke  in  Jack.  "  He  means  an  easy-tempered  fellow,  amus- 
ing and  amusable.  Well,  Nelly,  if  it 's  not  English,  I  can't 
help  it  —  it  ought  to  be ;  but  when  one  wants  ammunition, 
one  takes  the  first  heavy  thing  at  hand.  Egad !  I  'd  ram 
down  a  minister  plenipotentiary,  rather  than  fire  blank- 
cartridge." 

"Is  Lord  Culduff  also  jolly,  Mr.  Harding?"  asked 
Eleanor,  now  looking  up  with  a  sparkle  in  her  eye. 

"  I  scarcely  know  —  I  have  the  least  possible  acquaintance 
with  his  Lordship;  I  doubt,  indeed,  if  he  will  recollect  me," 
said  Harding,  with  diffidence. 

"  What  are  we  to  do  with  this  heavy  swell  when  he  comes, 
is  the  puzzle  to  me,"  said  Augustus,  gravely.  "  How  is  he 
to  be  entertained,  —  how  amused?  Here's  a  county  with 
nothing  to  see  —  nothing  to  interest  —  without  a  neighbor- 
hood.    What  are  we  to  do  with  him?" 

"  The  more  one  is  a  man  of  the  world,  in  the  best  sense  of 
that  phrase,  the  more  easily  he  finds  how  to  shape  his  life  to 
any  and  every  circumstance,"  said  Temple,  with  a  senten- 
tious tone  and  manner. 

"  Which  means,  I  suppose,  that  he'll  make  the  best  of  a 
bad  case,  and  bear  our  tiresomeness  with  bland  urbanity?" 
said  Jack.  "  Let  us  only  hope,  for  all  our  sakes,  that  his 
trial  may  not  be  a  long  one." 

"Just  to  think  of  such  a  country!"  exclaimed  Marion; 
*'  there  is  absolutely  no  one  we  could  have  to  meet  him." 

"What's  the  name  of  that  half-pay  captain  who  called 
here  t'other  morning?  —  the  fellow  who  sat  from  luncheon 
till  nigh  dusk?"  asked  Jack. 

"Captain  Craufurd,"  replied  Marion.  "I  hope  nobody 
thinks  of  inviting  him;  he  is  insufferably  vulgar,  and  pre- 
suming besides." 

"  Was  n't  that  the  man,  Marion,  who  told  you  that  as  my 
father  and  Lady  Augusta  didn't  live  together  the  county 
gentry  could  n't  be  expected  to  call  on  us?  "  asked  Augustus, 
laughing. 

"He  did  more:  he  entered  into  an  explanation  of  the 
peculiar  tenets  of  the  neighborhood,  and  told  me  if  we  had 
had  the  good  luck  to  have  settled  in  the  south  or  west  of 


48  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

Ireland,  they  'd  not  have  minded  it,  '  but  here,'  he  added, 
'we  are  great  sticklers  for  morality.'" 

"And  what  reply  did  you  make  him,  Marion?"  asked 
Jack. 

"  I  was  so  choked  with  passion  that  I  could  n't  speak,  or 
if  I  did  say  anything  I  have  forgotten  it.  At  all  events,  he 
set  me  off  laughing  immediately  after,  as  he  said,  —  '  As  for 
myself,  I  don't  care  a  rush.  I  'm  a  bachelor,  and  a  bachelor 
can  go  anywhere.'  " 

She  gave  these  words  with  such  a  close  mimicry  of  his 
voice  and  manner,  that  a  general  burst  of  laughter  followed 
them. 

"  There  's  the  very  fellow  we  want,"  cried  Jack.  "  That 's 
the  man  to  meet  our  distinguished  guest ;  he  '11  not  let  him 
escape  without  a  wholesome  hint  or  two." 

"  I'd  as  soon  see  a  gentleman  exposed  to  the  assault  of  a 
mastiff  as  to  the  insulting  coarseness  of  such  a  fellow  as 
that,"  said  Temple,  passionately. 

"  The  mischief  's  done  already;  I  heard  the  governor  say, 
as  he  took  leave,  —  '  Captain  Craufurd,  are  you  too  strait- 
laced  to  dine  out  on  a  Sunday?  if  not,  will  you  honor  us  with 
your  compan}^  at  eight  o'clock  ? '  And  though  he  repeated 
the  words  '  eight  o'clock '  with  a  groan  like  a  protest,  he 
muttered  something  about  being  happy,  a  phrase  that  evi- 
dently cost  him  dearly,  for  he  went  shuffling  down  the 
avenue  afterwards  with  his  hat  over  his  eyes,  and  gesticulat- 
ing with  his  hands  as  if  some  new  immorality  had  suddenly 
broke  in  upon  his  mind." 

"You  mean  to  say  that  he  is  coming  to  dinner  here  next 
Sunday?"  asked  Temple,  horrified. 

"  A  little  tact  and  good  management  are  always  sufficient 
to  keep  these  sort  of  men  down,"  said  Augustus. 

"  I  hope  we  don't  ask  a  man  to  dinner  with  the  intention 
to  '  keep  him  down,' "  said  Jack,  sturdily. 

"  At  all  events,"  cried  Temple,  "  he  need  not  be  presented 
to  Lord  Culduff." 

"  I  suspect  you  will  see  very  little  of  him  after  dinner," 
observed  Harding,  in  his  meek  fashion.  "  That  wonderful 
'32  port  will  prove  a  detainer  impossible  to  get  away 
from." 


AT  LUNCHEON.  49 

"  I  '11  keep  him  company,  then.  I  rather  like  to  meet  one 
of  those  cross-grained  dogs  occasionally." 

''Not  impossibly  you'll  learn  something  more  of  that 
same  '  public  opinion  '  of  our  neighbors  regarding  us,"  said 
Marion,  haughtily. 

"With  all  my  heart,"  cried  the  sailor,  gaj^y ;  "they'll 
not  ruffle  my  temper,  even  if  they  won't  flatter  my  vanity." 

"Have  you  asked  the  L'Estranges,  Marion?"  said 
Augustus. 

"  We  always  ask  them  after  church ;  they  are  sure  to  be 
disengaged,"  said  she.  "I  wish,  Nelly,  that  you,  who  are 
such  a  dear  friend  of  Julia's,  would  try  and  persuade  her  to 
wear  something  else  than  that  eternal  black  silk.  She  is  so ' 
intently  bent  on  being  an  Andalusian.  Some  one  unluckily ' 
said  she  looked  so  Spanish,  that  she  has  got  up  the  dress, 
and  the  little  fan  coquetry,  and  the  rest  of  it,  in  the  most 
absurd  fashion." 

"  Her  grandmother  was  a  Spaniard,"  broke  in  Nelly, 
warmly. 

"  So  they  say,"  said  the  other,  with  a  shrug  of  the 
shoulders. 

"There's  a  good  deal  of  style  about  her,"  said  Temple, 
with  the  tone  of  one  who  was  criticising  what  he  under- 
stood.    "  She  sings  prettily." 

"Prettily?"'  groaned  Jack.  "Why,  where,  except 
amongst  professionals,  did  you  ever  hear  her  equal?" 

"She  sings  divinely,"  said  Ellen;  "and  it  is,  after  all, 
one  of  her  least  attractions." 

"No  heroics,  for  Heaven's  sake;  leave  that  to  your 
brothers,  Nelly,  who  are  fully  equal  to  it.  I  really  meant 
my  remark  about  her  gown  for  good  nature." 

"She's  a  nice  girl,"  said  Augustus,  "though  she  is  cer-| 
tainly  a  bit  of  a  coquette."  ' 

"True;  but  it 's  very  good  coquetry,"  drawled  out  Tem- 
ple. "  It 's  not  that  jerking,  uncertain,  unpurpose-like  style 
of  affectation  your  English  coquette  displays.  It  is  not  the 
eternal  demand  for  attention  or  admiration.  It  is  simply  a 
desire  to  please  thrown  into  a  thousand  little  graceful  ways, 
each  too  slight,  and  too  faint,  to  be  singled  out  for  notice, 
but  making  up  a  whole  of  wonderful  captivation." 


50  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

* '  Well  done,  diplomacy  !  egad  !  I  did  n't  know  there  was 
that  much  blood  in  the  Foreign  Office/'  cried  Jack,  laugh- 
ino-,  "  and  now  I  'm  off  to  look  after  my  night-lines.  I  quite 
forgot  all  about  them  till  this  minute." 

"  Take  me  with  you,  Jack,"  said  Nelly,  and  hastened  after 
him,  hat  in  hand. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE   ARRIVAL    OF    A    GREAT   MAN. 

It  was  within  a  quarter  of  eight  o'clock  —  forty-five  minutes 
after  the  usual  dinner-hour  —  when  Lord  Culduff's  carriage 
drove  up  to  the  door. 

''  The  roads  are  atrocious  down  here,"  said  Temple,  apolo- 
gizing in  advance  for  an  offence  which  his  father  rarely,  if 
ever,  forgave.  "  Don't  you  think  you  ought  to  go  out  to 
meet  him,  sir?"  asked  he,  half  timidly. 

*' It  would  only  create  more  delay;  he'll  appear,  I  take 
it,  when  he  is  dressed,"  was  the  curt  rejoinder,  but  it  was 
scarcely  uttered  when  the  door  was  thrown  wide  open,  and 
Lord  Culduff  and  Mr.  Cutbill  were  announced. 

Seen  in  the  subdued  light  of  a  drawing-room  before  din- 
ner, Lord  Culduff  did  not  appear  more  than  half  his  real  age, 
and  the  jaunty  stride  and  the  bland  smile  he  wore  —  as  he 
made  his  round  of  acquaintance  —  might  have  passed  muster 
for  five-and-thirty ;  nor  was  the  round  vulgar  figure  of  the 
engineer,  awkward  and  familiar  alternately,  a  bad  foil  for 
the  very  graceful  attractions  of  his  Lordship's  manner. 

''  We  should  have  been  here  two  hours  ago,"  said  he, 
"  but  my  friend  here  insisted  on  our  coming  coastwise  to  see 
a  wonderful  bay,  —  a  natural  harbor  one  might  call  it. 
What 's  the  name,  Cutbill?  " 

*'Portness,  my  Lord." 

"  Ah,  to  be  sure,  Portness.    On  your  property,  I  believe?  " 

"  I  am  proud  •  to  say  it  is.  I  have  seen  nothing  finer  in 
the  kingdom,"  said  Bramleigh ;  "and  if  Ireland  were  any- 
thing but  Ireland,  that  harbor  would  be  crowded  with  ship- 
ping, and  this  coast  one  of  the  most  prosperous  and  busy 
shores  of  the  island." 


52  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  Who  knows  if  we  may  not  live  to  see  it  such?  Cutbill's 
projects  are  very  grand,  and  I  declare  that  though  I  deemed 
them  Arabian  Night  stories  a  few  weeks  back,  I  am  a  con- 
vert now.  Another  advantage  we  gained,"  said  he,  turning 
to  Marion;  "we  came  up  through  a  new  shrubbery,  which 
we  were  told  had  been  all  planned  by  you." 

"My  sister  designed  it,"  said  she,  as  she  smiled  and 
made  a  gesture  towards  Ellen. 

"  May  I  offer  you  my  most  respectful  compliments  on 
your  success?  lam  an  enthusiast  about  landscape-garden- 
ing, and  though  our  English  climate  gives  us  many  a  sore 
rebuff  in  our  attempts,  the  soil  and  the  varied  nature  of  the 
surface  lend  themselves  happily  to  the  pursuit.  I  think 
you  were  at  the  Hague  with  me,  Bramleigh  ?  "  asked  he  of 
Temple. 

"  Does  he  know  how  late  it  is?"  whispered  Augustus  to 
his  father.     "  Does  he  know  we  are  waiting  dinner?  " 

"I'll  tell  him,"  and  Colonel  Bramleigh  walked  forward 
from  his  place  before  the  fire.  "  I  'm  afraid,  my  Lord,  the 
cold  air  of  our  hills  has  not  given  you  an  appetite  ?  " 

"  Quite  the  contrary,  I  assure  you.     I  am  very  hungry." 

"  By  Jove,  and  so  are  we  !  "  blurted  out  Jack  ;  "  and  it 's 
striking  eight  this  instant." 

' '  What  is  your  dinner-hour  ?  " 

"  It  ought  to  be  seven,"  answered  Jack. 

"Why,  Cutbill,  you  told  me  nine." 

Cutbill  muttered  something  below  his  breath,  and  turned 
away;  and  Lord  Culduff  laughingly  said,  "  I  declare  I  don't 
perceive  the  connection.  My  friend.  Colonel  Bramleigh, 
opines  that  a  French  cook  alwa3"s  means  nine-o'clock  dinner. 
I  'm  horrified  at  this  delay  :  let  us  make  a  hasty  toilette,  and 
repair  our  fault  at  once." 

"Let  me  show  you  where  you  are  lodged,"  said  Temple, 
not  sorry  to  escape  from  the  drawing-room  at  a  moment 
when  his  friend's  character  and  claims  were  likely  to  be 
sharply  criticised. 

"  Cutty's  a  vulgar  dog,"  said  Jack,  as  they  left  the  room. 
"  But  I  '11  be  shot  if  he 's  not  the  best  of  the  two." 

A  haughty  toss  of  Marion's  head  showed  that  she  was  no 
concurring  party  to  the  sentiment. 


THE   ARRIVAL   OF    A   GREAT  MAN.  53 

*'I'm  amazed  to  see  so  young  a  man,"  said  Colonel 
Bramleigh.     "  In  look  at  least,  he  is  n't  forty." 

"  It 's  all  make-up,"  cried  Jack. 

''He  can't  be  a  great  deal  under  seventy,  taking  the  list 
of  his  services.  He  was  at  Vienna  as  private  secretary  to 
Lord  Borchester  — "  As  Augustus  pronounced  the  words 
Lord  Culduff  entered  the  room  in  a  fragrance  of  perfume  and 
a  brilliancy  of  color  that  was  quite  effective ;  for  he  wore 
his  red  ribbon,  and  his  blue  coat  was  lined  with  white  silk, 
and  his  cheeks  glowed  with  a  bloom  that  youth  itself  could 
not  rival. 

"  Who  talks  of  old  Borchester?"  said  he,  gayly.  "My 
father  used  to  tell  me  such  stories  of  him.  They  sent  him 
over  to  Hanover  once,  to  report  on  the  available  Princesses 
to  marry  the  Prince :  and,  egad !  he  played  his  part  so  well 
that  one  of  them  —  Princess  Helena  I  think  it  was  —  fell 
in  love  with  him ;  and  if  it  was 't  that  he  had  been  married 
already,  —  May  I  offer  my  arm  ?  "  And  the  rest  of  the 
story  was  probably  told  as  he  led  Miss  Bramleigh  in  to 
dinner. 

Mr.  Cutbill  only  arrived  as  they  tqfok  their  places,  and 
slunk  into  a  seat  beside  Jack,  whom,  of  all  the  company, 
he  judged  would  be  the  person  he  could  feel  most  at  ease 
with. 

"What  a  fop!"  whispered  Jack,  with  a  glance  at  the 
peer. 

"  Is  n't  he  an  old  humbug?  "  muttered  Cutbill.  "  Do  you 
know  how  he  managed  to  appear  in  so  short  a  time  ?  We 
stopped  two  hours  at  a  little  inn  on  the  road  while  he  made 
his  toilette ;  and  the  whole  get-up  —  paint  and  padding  and 
all  —  was  done  then.  The  great  fur  pelisse,  in  which  he 
made  his  entrance  into  the  drawing-room,  removed,  he 
was  in  full  dinner-dress  underneath.  He's  the  best  actor 
living." 

"  Have  you  known  him  long?  " 

"Oh,  yes!  I  know  all  of  them,"  said  he,  with  a  little 
gesture  of  his  hand  :  "  that  is,  they  take  devilish  good  care 
to  know  me." 

"  Indeed!  "  exclaimed  Jack,  in  the  tone  which  seemed  to 
ask  for  some  explanation. 


54  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  You  see,  here  's  how  it  is,"  said  Cutbill,  as  he  bent  over 
Ws  plate  and  talked  in  a  tone  cautiously  subdued:  "All 
those  swells  —  especially  that  generation  yonder  —  are  pretty 
nigh  aground.  They  have  been  living  for  forty  or  fifty 
years  at  something  like  five  times  their  income ;  and  if  it 
had  n't  been  for  this  sudden  rush  of  prosperity  in  England, 
caused  by  railroads,  mines,  quarries,  or  the  like,  these 
fellows  would  have  been  swept  clean  away.  He  's  watching 
me  now.  I  '11  go  on  by-and-by.  Have  you  any  good  hunt- 
ing down  here.  Colonel  Bramleigh  ?  "  asked  he  of  the  host, 
who  sat  half  hid  by  a  massive  centrepiece. 

"You'll  have  to  ask  my  sons  what  it's  like;  and  I  take 
it  they  '11  give  you  a  mount  too." 

"With  pleasure,  Mr.  Cutbill,"  cried  Augustus.  "  If  we 
have  no  frost,  we'll  show  you  some  sport  on  Monday  next." 

"  Delighted,  —  I  like  hunting  of  all  things." 

"And  you,  my  Lord,  is  it  a  favorite  sport  of  yours?'* 
asked  Temple. 

"  A  long  life  out  of  England  —  which  has  unfortunately 
been  my  case  —  makes  a  man  sadly  out  of  gear  in  all  these 
things ;  but  I  ride,  of  course,"  and  he  said  the  last  words  as 
though  he  meant  to  imply  "  because  I  do  everything." 

"I'll  send  over  to  L'Estrange,"  said  Augustus;  "he's 
sure  to  know  where   the  meet  is  for  Monday." 

"  Who  is  L'Estrange?  "  asked  his  Lordship. 

"  Our  curate  here,"  replied  Colonel  Bramleigh,  smiling. 
"An  excellent  fellow,  and  a  very  agreeable  neighbor." 

"  Our  only  one,  by  Jove  !  "  cried  Jack. 

"  How  gallant  to  forget  Julia  !  "  said  Nelly,  tartly. 

"  And  the  fair  Julia,  — who  is  she?"  asked  Lord  Culduff. 

"  L'Estrange's  sister,"  replied  Augustus. 

"  And  now,  my  Lord,"  chimed  in  Jack,  "  you  know  the 
whole  neighborhood,  if  we  don't  throw  in  a  cross-grained 
old  fellow,  a  half-pay  lieutenant  of  the  Buffs." 

"Small  but  select,"  said  Lord  Culduff,  quietly.  "May 
I  venture  to  ask  you.  Colonel  Bramleigh,  what  determined 
you  in  your  choice  of  a  residence  here?" 

"  I  suppose  I  must  confess  it  was  mainly  a  money  con- 
sideration. The  bank  held  some  rather  heavy  mortgages 
over  this  property,  which  they  were  somewhat  disposed  to 


THE   ARRIVAL  OF  A  GREAT  MAN.  bb 

consider  as  capable  of  great  improvement,  and  as  I  was 
growing  a  little  wearied  of  City  life,  I  fancied  I  'd  come  over 
here  and  —  " 

*'  Regenerate  Ireland,  eh?" 

"Or,  at  least,  live  very  economically,"  added  be, 
laughing. 

*'  I  may  be  permitted  to  doubt  that  part  of  the  experi- 
ment," said  Lord  Culduff,  as  his  eyes  ranged  over  the  table, 
set  forth  in  all  the  splendor  that  plate  and  glass  could 
bestow. 

"  I  suspect  papa  means  a  relative  economy,"  said  Marion, 
"  something  very  different  from  our  late  life  in  England." 

*'  Yes,  my  last  three  years  have  been  very  costly  ones," 
said  Colonel  Bramleigh,  sighing.  "  I  lost  heavily  by  the 
sale  of  Earlshope,  and  my  unfortunate  election,  too,  was  an 
expensive  business.  It  will  take  some  retrenchment  to  make 
up  for  all  this.  I  tell  the  boys  they'll  have  to  sell  their 
hunters,  or  be  satisfied,  like  the  parson,  to  hunt  one  day  a 
week."  The  self-complacent,  mock  humility  of  this  speech 
was  all  too  apparent. 

"■  I  take  it,"  said  Culduff,  authoritatively,  "  that  every 
gentleman  "  —  and  he  laid  a  marked  emphasis  on  the  "  gen- 
tleman " —  "must  at  some  period  or  the  other  of  his  life 
have  spent  more  money  than  he  ought  —  more  than  was 
subsequently  found  to  be  convenient." 

"  I  have  repeatedly  done  so,"  broke  in  Cutbill,  "  and  in- 
variably been  sorry  for  it  afterwards,  inasmuch  as  each  time 
one  does  it  the  difficulty  increases." 

"  Harder  to  get  credit,  you  mean?"  cried  Jack,  laughing. 

"Just  so;  and  one's  friends  get  tired  of  helping  one. 
Just  as  they  told  me,  there  was  a  fellow  at  Blackwall  used 
to  live  by  drowning  himself.  He  was  regularly  fished  up 
once  a  week,  and  stomach-pumped  and  '  cordialled '  and 
hot-blanketed,  and  brought  round  by  the  Humane  Society's 
people,  till  at  last  they  came  to  discover  the  dodge,  and 
refused  to  restore  him  any  more ;  and  now  he 's  reduced  to 
earn  his  bread  as  a  water-bailiff  —  cruel  hard  on  a  fellow  of 
such  an  ingenious  turn  of  mind." 

While  the  younger  men  laughed  at  Cutbill's  story,  Lord 
Culduff  gave  him  a  reproving  glance  from  the  other  end  of 


56  THE   BKAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

the  table,  palpably  intended  to  recall  him  to  a  more  sedate 
and  restricted  conviviality. 

"Are  we  not  to  accompany  you?"  said  Lord  Culduff  to 
Marion,  as  she  and  her  sister  arose  to  retire.  "  Is  this 
barbarism  of  sitting  after  dinner  maintained  here  ?  " 

"Only  till  we  finish  this  decanter  of  claret,  my  Lord," 
said  Colonel  Bramleigh,  who  caught  what  was  not  intended 
for  his  ears. 

"  Ask  the  governor  to  give  you  a  cigar,"  whispered  Jack 
to  Cutbill ;   "he  has  sorr.e  rare  Cubans." 

"Now,  this  is  what  1  call  regular  jolly,"  said  Cutbill,  as 
he  drew  a  small  spider  table  to  his  side,  and  furnished  him- 
self with  a  glass  and  a  decanter  of  Madeira,  "and,"  added 
he  in  a  whisper  to  Jack,  "  let  us  not  be  in  a  hurry  to  leave 
it.  We  only  want  one  thing  to  be  perfect.  Colonel 
Bramleigh." 

"  If  I  can  only  supply  it,  pray  command  me,  Mr.  Cutbill." 

"  I  want  this,  then,"  said  Cutbill,  pursing  up  his  mouth  at 
one  side,  while  he  opened  the  other  as  if  to  emit  the  smoke 
of  a  cigar. 

"Do  3^ou  mean  smoking?"  asked  Colonel  Bramleigh,  in 
a  half-irritable  tone. 

"  You  have  it." 

"  Are  you  a  smoker,  my  Lord?  "  asked  the  host,  turning 
to  Lord  Culduff. 

"  A  very  moderate  one.  A  cigarette  after  breakfast, 
and  another  at  bed  time,  are  about  my  excesses  in  that 
direction." 

"Then  I'm  afraid  I  must  defraud  you  of  the  full  meas- 
ure of  your  enjoyment,  Mr.  Cutbill ;  we  never  smoke  in 
the  dining-room.  Indeed,  I  myself  have  a  strong  aversion 
to  tobacco,  and  though  I  have  consented  to  build  a  smoking- 
room,  it  is  as  far  off  from  me  as  I  have  been  able  to  con- 
trive it." 

"And  what  about  his  choice  Cubans,  eh?"  whispered 
Cutbill  to  Jack. 

"All  hypocrisy.  You'll  find  a  box  of  them  in  your 
dressing-room,"  said  Jack,  in  an  undertone,  "  when  you 
go  upstairs." 

Temple  now  led  his  distinguished  friend  into  those  charm- 


THE   ARRIVAL  OF  A   GREAT   MAN.  67 

iDg  pasturages  where  the  flocks  of  diplomacy  love  to  dwell, 
and  where  none  other  save  themselves  could  find  herbage. 
Nor  was  it  amongst  great  political  events,  of  peace  or  war, 
alliances  or  treaties,  they  wandered  —  for  perhaps  in  these 
the  outer  world,  taught  as  they  are  by  newspapers,  might 
have  taken  some  interest  and  some  share.  No ;  their  talk 
was  all  of  personalities,  of  Russian  princes  and  grandees 
of  Spain,  archduchesses  and  "  marchesas,"  whose  crafts  and 
subtleties,  and  pomps  and  vanities,  make  up  a  world  like 
no  other  world,  and  play  a  drama  of  life  —  happily  it  may 
be  for  humanity  —  like  no  other  drama  that  other  men  and 
women  ever  figured  in.  Now  it  is  a  strange  fact  —  and  I 
appeal  to  my  readers  if  their  experience  will  not  corrobo- 
rate mine  —  that  when  two  men  thoroughly  versed  in  these 
themes  will  talk  together  upon  them,  exchanging  their  sto- 
lies  and  mingling  their  comments,  the  rest  of  the  company 
will  be  struck  with  a  perfect  silence,  unable  to  join  in  the 
subject  discussed,  and  half  ashamed  to  introduce  any  ordin- 
ary matter  into  such  high  and  distinguished  society.  And 
thus  Lord  Culduff  and  Temple  went  on  for  full  an  hour 
or  more,  pelting  each  other  with  little  court  scandals  and 
small  state  intrigues,  till  Colonel  Bramleigh  fell  asleep,  and 
Cutbill,  having  finished  his  Madeira,  would  probably  have 
followed  his  host's  example,  when  a  servant  announced  tea, 
adding,  in  a  whisper,  that  Mr.  L'Estrange  and  his  sister 
were  iu  the  drawing-room. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

OVER      THE      FIRE. 

In  a  large  room,  comfortably  furnished,  but  in  which  there 
was  a  certain  blending  of  the  articles  of  the  drawing-room 
with  those  of  the  dining-room,  showing  unmistakably  the 
bachelor  character  of  the  owner,  sat  two  young  men  at 
opposite  sides  of  an  ample  fireplace.  One  sat,  or  rather 
reclined,  on  a  small  leather  sofa,  his  bandaged  leg  resting 
on  a  pillow,  and  his  pale  and  somewhat  shrunken  face  evi- 
dencing the  results  of  pain  and  confinement  to  the  house. 
His  close-cropt  head  and  square-cut  beard,  and  a  certain 
mingled  drollery  and  fierceness  in  the  eyes,  proclaimed  him 
French,  and  so  M.  Anatole  Pracontal  was ;  though  it  would 
have  been  difficult  to  declare  as  much  from  his  English, 
which  he  spoke  with  singular  purity  and  the  very  faintest 
peculiarity  of  accent. 

Opposite  him  sat  a  tall  well-built  man  of  about  thirty-four 
or  five,  with  regular  and  almost  handsome  features,  marred, 
indeed,  in  expression  by  the  extreme  closeness  of  the  eyes, 
and  a  somewhat  long  upper  lip,  which  latter  defect  an  in- 
cipient moustache  was  already  concealing.  The  color  of 
his  hair  was,  however,  that  shade  of  auburn  which  verges 
on  red,  and  is  so  commonly  accompanied  by  a  much  freckled 
skin.  This  same  hair,  and  hands  and  feet  almost  enormous 
in  size,  were  the  afflictions  which  imparted  bitterness  to  a 
lot  which  many  regarded  as  very  enviable  in  life ;  for  Mr. 
Philip  Longworth  was  his  own  master,  free  to  go  where  he 
pleased,  and  the  owner  of  a  very  sufficient  fortune.  He  had 
been  brought  up  at  Oscot,  and  imbibed,  with  a  very  fair 
share  of  knowledge,  a  large  stock  of  that  general  mistrust 
and  suspicion  which  is  the  fortune  of  those  entrusted  to 
priestly  teaching,  and  which,  though  he  had  travelled  largely 


OVER  TJIE   FIRE,:  59 

and  mixed  freely  with  the  world,  still  continued  to  cling  to 
his  manner,  which  might  be  characterized  by  the  one  word 
—  furtive. 

Longworth  had  only  arrived  that  day  for  dinner,  and  the 
two  friends  were  now  exchanging  their  experience  since 
they  had  parted  some  eight  months  before  at  the  second 
cataract  of  the  Nile. 

"  And  so,  Pracontal,  you  never  got  one  of  my  letters?  " 

"Not  one,  — on  my  honor.  Indeed,  if  it  were  not  that 
I  learned  by  a  chance  meeting  with  a  party  of  English 
tourists  at  Cannes  that  they  had  met  you  at  Cairo,  I  'd  have 
begun  to  suspect  you  had  taken  a  plunge  into  the  Nile,  or 
into  Mohammedom,  for  which  latter  you  were  showing  some 
disposition,  you  remember,  when  we  parted." 

' '  True  enough ;  and  if  one  was  sure  never  to  turn  west- 
ward again,  there  are  many  things  in  favor  of  the  turban. 
It  is  the  most  sublime  conception  of  egotism  possible  to 
imagine." 

"Egotism  is  a  mistake,  mon  cher^''  said  the  other;  "a 
man's  own  heart,  make  it  as  comfortable  as  he  may,  is  too 
small  an  apartment  to  live  in.  I  do  not  say  this  in  any 
grand  benevolent  spirit.  There  's  no  humbug  of  philanthropy 
in  the  opinion." 

"  Of  that  I  'm  fully  assured,"  said  Longworth,  with  a 
gravity  which  made  the  other  laugh. 

"  No,"  continued  he,  still  laughing.  "  I  want  a  larger 
field,  a  wider  hunting-ground  for  my  diversion  than  my  own 
nature." 

'•A  disciple,  in  fact,  of  your  great  model,  Louis  Napo- 
leon. You  incline  to  annexations.  By  the  way,  how  fares 
it  with  your  new  projects?  Have  you  seen  the  lawyer  I 
gave  you  the  letter  to  ?  " 

"  Yes.  I  stayed  eight  days  in  town  to  confer  with  him. 
I  heard  from  him  this  very  day." 

"AYell,  what  says  he?" 

"  His  letter  is  a  very  savage  one.  He  is  angry  with  me 
for  having  come  here  at  all ;  and  particularly  angry  because 
I  have  broken  my  leg,  and  can't  come  away." 

"  What  does  he  think  of  your  case,  however?  " 

"He  thinks  it  manageable.     He  says  —  as  of   course  T 


60  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLr. 

knew  he  would  say  —  that  it  demands  most  cautious  treat- 
ment and  great  acuteness.  There  are  blanks,  historical 
blanks,  to  be  filled  up;  links  to  connect,  and  such  like, 
which  will  demand  some  time  and  some  money.  I  have  told 
him  I  have  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  the  one,  but  for  the 
other  I  am  occasionally  slightly  pinched." 

"  It  promises  well,  however?  " 

"Most  hopefully.  And  when  once  I  have  proved  myself 
—  not  always  so  easy  as  it  seems  —  the  son  of  my  father,  I 
am  to  go  over  and  see  him  again  in  consultation." 

*'  Kelson  is  a  man  of  station  and  character,  and  if  he 
undertakes  your  cause  it  is  in  itself  a  strong  guarantee  of 
its  goodness." 

"  Why,  these  men  take  all  that  is  offered  them.  They  no 
more  refuse  a  bad  suit  than  a  doctor  rejects  a  hopeless 
patient." 

"  And  so  will  a  doctor,  if  he  happen  to  be  an  honest 
man,"  said  Longworth,  half  peevishly.  "Just  as  he  would 
also  refuse  to  treat  one  who  would  persist  in  following  his 
own  caprices  in  defiance  of  all  advice." 

"Which  touches  me.  Is  not  it  so?"  said  the  other, 
laughing.  "Well,  I  think  I  ought  to  have  stayed  quietly 
here,  and  not  shown  myself  in  public.  All  the  more,  since 
it  has  cost  me  this,"  and  he  pointed  to  his  leg  as  he  spoke. 
"But  I  can't  help  confessing  it,  Philip,  the  sight  of  those 
fellows  in  their  gay  scarlet,  caracoling  over  the  sward,  and 
popping  over  the  walls  and  hedges,  provoked  me.  It  was 
exactly  like  a  challenge ;  so  I  felt  it,  at  least.  It  was  as 
though  they  said,  '  What!  you  come  here  to  pit  your  claims 
against  ours,  and  you  are  still  not  gentleman  enough  to  meet 
us  ill  a  fair  field  and  face  the  same  perils  that  we  do.'  And 
this,  be  it  remembered,  to  one  who  had  served  in  a  cavalry 
regiment,  and  made  campaigns  with  the  Chasseurs  d' Afrique. 
I  could  n't  stand  it,  and  after  the  second  day  I  mounted, 
and  —  "a  motion  of  his  hand  finished  the  sentence. 

"  All  that  sort  of  reasoning  is  so  totally  different  from  an 
Englishman's  that  I  am  unable  even  to  discuss  it.  I  do  not 
pretend  to  understand  the  refined  sensibility  that  resents 
provocations  which  were  never  offered." 

"  I  know  you  don't,  and  I  know  your  countrymen  do  not 


OVER  THE   FIRE.  61 

either.  You  are  such  a  practical  people  that  your  very 
policemen  never  interfere  with  a  criminal  till  he  has  fully 
committed  himself." 

"In  plain  words,  we  do  not  content  ourselves  with  infer- 
ences. But  tell  me,  did  any  of  these  people  call  to  see  you, 
or  ask  after  you?  " 

"  Yes,  they  sent  the  day  after  my  disaster,  and  they  also 
told  the  doctor  to  say  how  happy  they  should  be  if  they 
could  be  of  service  to  me.  And  a  young  naval  commander, 
—  his  card  is  yonder, — came,  I  think,  three  times,  and 
would  have  come  up  if  I  had  wished  to  receive  him ;  but 
Kelson's  letter,  so  angry  about  my,  great  indiscretion,  as  he 
called  it,  made  me  decline  the  visit,  and  confine  my  acknowl- 
edgment to  thanks." 

"  I  wonder  what  my  old  gatekeeper  thought  when  he  saw 
them,  or  their  liveries  in  this  avenue  ? "  said  Longworth, 
with  a  peculiar  bitterness  in  his  tone. 

"AYhy,  what  should  he  think, — was  there  any  feud 
between  the  families?" 

"  How  could  there  be?  These  people  have  not  been  many 
months  in  Ireland.  What  I  meant  was  with  reference  to  the 
feud  that  is  six  centuries  old,  the  old  open  ulcer,  that  makes 
all  rule  in  this  country  a  struggle,  and  all  resistance  to  it  a 
patriotism.  Don't  you  know,"  asked  he,  almost  sternly, 
"that  I  am  a  Papist?" 

"  Yes,  you  told  me  so." 

"  And  don't  you  know  that  my  religion  is  not  a  mere 
barrier  to  my  advancement  in  many  careers  of  life,  but  is  a 
social  disqualification  —  that  it  is,  like  the  trace  of  black 
blood  in  a  Creole,  a  ban  excluding  him  from  intercourse  with 
his  better-born  neighbors  —  that  I  belong  to  a  class  just  as 
much  shut  out  from  all  the  relations  of  society  as  were  the 
Jews  in  the  fifteenth  century  ?  " 

"  I  remember  that  you  told  me  so  once,  but  I  own  I  never 
fully  comprehended  it,  nor  understood  how  the  question  of  a 
man's  faith  was  to  decide  his  standing  in  this  world,  and 
that,  being  the  equal  of  those  about  you  in  buth  and  con- 
dition, your  religion  should  stamp  you  with  inferiority." 

"  But  I  did  not  tell  you  I  was  their  equal,"  said  Longworth, 
with  a  slow  and  painful  distinctness.     "  We  are  novi  homines 


62  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

here ;  a  couple  of  generations  back  we  were  peasants  —  as 
poor  as  anything  you  could  see  out  of  that  window.  By  hard 
work  and  some  good  luck  —  of  course  there  was  luck  in  it  — 
we  emerged,  and  got  enough  together  to  live  upon,  and  I  was 
sent  to  a  costly  school,  and  then  to  college,  that  I  might 
start  in  life  the  equal  of  my  fellows.  But  what  avails  it  all? 
To  hold  a  station  in  life,  to  mix  with  the  world,  to  associate 
with  men  educated  and  brought  up  like  myself,  I  must  quit 
my  own  country  and  live  abroad.  I  know,  I  see,  you  can 
make  nothing  of  this.  It  is  out  and  out  incomprehensible. 
You  made  a  clean  sweep  of  these  things  with  your  great 
Revolution  of  '93.     Ours  is  yet  to  come." 

"  Per  Dio  !  I  'd  not  stand  it,"  cried  the  other,  passionately. 

"  You  could  n't  help  it.  You  must  stand  it;  at  least,  till 
such  time  as  a  good  many  others,  equally  aggrieved  as  your- 
self, resolve  to  risk  something  to  change  it;  and  this  is 
remote  enough,  for  there  is  nothing  that  men  —  I  mean  edu- 
cated and  cultivated  men  —  are  more  averse  to,  than  any 
open  confession  of  feeling  a  social  disqualification.  I  may 
tell  it  to  you  here,  as  we  sit  over  the  fire,  but  I  '11  not  go  out 
and  proclaim  it,  I  promise  you.  These  are  confessions  one 
keeps  for  the  fireside." 

"  And  will  not  these  people  visit  you?  " 

''  Nothing  less  likely." 

"  Nor  you  call  upon  them?  " 

"  Certainly  not." 

"  And  will  you  continue  to  live  within  an  hour's  drive  of 
each  other  without  acquaintance  or  recognition  ?  " 

"  Probably  —  at  least  we  may  salute  when  we  meet." 

"Then  I  say  the  guillotine  has  done  more  for  civilization 
than  the  schoolmaster,"  cried  the  other.  "And  all  this 
because  j^ou  are  a  Papist?" 

"  Just  so.  I  belong  to  a  faith  so  deeply  associated  with  a 
bygone  inferiority  that  I  am  not  to  be  permitted  to  emerge 
from  it  —  there's  the  secret  of  it  all." 

"  I  'd  rebel.     I  'd  descend  into  the  streets  !  " 

"  And  you'd  get  hanged  for  your  pains." 

A  shrug  of  the  shoulders  v/as  all  the  reply,  and  Longwortb 
went  on :  — 

"  Some  one  once  said,  '  It  was  better  economy  in  a  state 


OVER  THE  FIRE.  Q'3 

to  teach  people  not  to  steal  than  to  build  jails  for  the 
thieves ; '  and  so  I  would  say  to  our  rulers  it  would  be 
cheaper  to  give  us  some  of  the  things  we  ask  for  than  to 
enact  all  the  expensive  measures  that  are  taken  to  repress 
us." 

*'  What  chance  have  I,  then,  of  justice  in  such  a  country?  " 
cried  the  foreigner,  passionately. 

"  Better  than  in  any  land  of  Europe.  Indeed  I  will  go 
further,  and  say  it  is  the  one  land  in  Europe  where  corrup- 
tion is  impossible  on  the  seat  of  judgment.  If  you  make 
out  your  claim,  as  fully  as  you  detailed  it  to  me,  if  evidence 
will  sustain  your  allegations,  your  flag  will  as  certainly  wave 
over  that  high  tower  yonder  as  that  decanter  stands  there." 

''Here's  to  la  bonne  chance^"  said  the  other,  filling  a 
bumper  and  drinking  it  off. 

' '  You  will  need  to  be  very  prudent,  very  circumspect :  two 
things  which  I  suspect  will  cost  you  some  trouble,"  said 
Longworth.  ' '  The  very  name  you  will  have  to  go  by  will  be 
a  difficulty.  To  call  yourself  Bramleigh  will  be  an  open 
declaration  of  war ;  to  write  yourself  Pracontal  is  an  admis- 
sion that  you  have  no  claim  to  the  other  appellation." 

"  It  was  my  mother's  name.  She  was  of  a  Provencal 
family,  and  the  Pracontals  were  people  of  good  blood." 

"  But  your  father  was  always  called  Bramleigh?  " 

''My  father,  mon  cher,  had  fifty  aliases;  he  was  Louis 
Lagrange  under  the  Empu-e,  Victor  Cassagnac  at  the 
Restoration,  Carlo  Salvi  when  sentenced  to  the  galleys  at 
Naples,  Niccolo  Baldassare  when  he  shot  the  Austrian 
colonel  at  Capua,  and  I  believe  when  he  was  last  heard  of, 
the  captain  of  a  slaver,  he  was  called,  for  shortness'  sake, 
'  Brutto,'  for  he  was  not  personally  attractive." 

"  Then  when  and  where  was  he  known  as  Bramleigh?  " 

"  Whenever  he  wrote  to  England.  Whenever  he  asked 
for  money,  which,  on  the  whole,  was  pretty  often,  he  was 
Montagu  Bramleigh." 

"  To  whom  were  these  letters  addressed?  " 

"To  his  father,  Montagu  Bramleigh,  Portland  Place, 
London.     I  have  it  all  in  my  note-book." 

"And  these  appeals  were  responded  to?" 

"  Not  so  satisfactorily  as  one  might  wish.     The  replies 


64  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

were  flat  refusals  to  give  money,  and  rather  unpleasant 
menaces  as  to  police  measures  if  the  insistence  were  con- 
tinued. 

''  You  have  some  of  these  letters?'* 

"The  lawyer  has,  I  think,  four  of  them.  The  last  con- 
tained a  bank  order  for  five  hundred  francs,  payable  to 
Giacomo  Lami,  or  order." 

"Who  was  Lami?" 

"  Lami  was  the  name  of  my  grandmother  ;  her  father  was 
Giacomo.  He  was  the  old  fresco-painter  who  came  over 
from  Rome  to  paint  the  walls  of  that  great  house  yonder, 
and  it  was  his  daughter  that  Bramleigh  married." 

"  Which  Bramleigh  was  the  father  of  the  present  possessor 
of  Castello?" 

"Precisely.  Montagu  Bramleigh  married  my  grand- 
mother here  in  Ireland,  and  when  the  troubles  broke  out, 
either  to  save  her  father  from  the  laws  or  to  get  rid  of 
him,  managed  to  smuggle  him  out  of  the  country  over  to 
Holland  —  the  last  supposition,  and  the  more  likely,  is  that 
he  sent  his  wife  off  with  her  father." 

"  What  evidence  is  there  of  this  marriage?  " 

"It  was  registered  in  some  parish  authority;  at  least  so 
old  Giacomo's  journal  records,  for  we  have  the  journal,  and 
without  it  we  might  never  have  known  of  our  claim ;  but 
besides  that,  there  are  two  letters  of  Montagu  Bramleigh's 
to  my  grandmother,  written  when  he  had  occasion  to  leave 
her  about  ten  dayS  after  their  marriage,  and  they  begin, 
^  My  dearest  wife,'  and  are  signed,  '  Y^our  affectionate  hus- 
band, M.  Bramleigh.'     The  lawyer  has  all  these." 

"How  did  it  come  about  that  a  rich  London  banker,  as 
Bramleigh  was,  should  ally  himself  with  the  daughter  of  a 
working  Italian  tradesman?" 

"Here's  the  story  as  conveyed  by  old  Giacomo's  notes. 
Bramleigh  came  over  here  to  look  after  the  progress  of  the 
works  for  a  great  man,  a  bishop  and  a  lord  marquis  too, 
who  was  the  owner  of  the  place ;  he  made  the  acquaintance 
of  Lami  and  his  daughters  :  there  were  two ;  the  younger 
only  a  child,  however.  The  eldest,  Enrichetta,  was  very 
beautiful,  so  beautiful  indeed,  that  Giacomo  was  eternally 
introducinoj  her  head  into  all  his  frescos ;  she  was  a  blonde 


OVER   TilE   FIRE.  65 

Italian,  and  made  a  most  lovely  Madonna.  Old  Giacomo's 
journal  mentions  no  less  than  eight  altar-pieces  where  she 
figures,  not  to  say  that  she  takes  her  place  pretty  frequently 
in  heathen  society  also,  and  if  I  be  rightly  informed,  she  is 
the  centre  figure  of  a  '  fresco '  in  this  very  house  of  Castello, 
in  a  small  octagon  tower,  the  whole  of  which  Larai  painted 
with  his  own  hand.  Bramleigh  fell  in  love  with  this  girl 
and  married  her." 

"  But  she  was  a  Catholic." 

''  No.  Lami  was  originally  a  Waldensian,  and  held  some 
sort  of  faith,  I  don't  exactly  know  what,  that  claimed 
affinity  with  the  English  Church;  at  all  events,  the  vicar 
here,  a  certain  Robert  Mathews  —  his  name  is  in  the  precious 
journal  —  married  them,  and  man  and  wife  they  were." 

' '  When  and  how  did  all  these  facts  come  to  your  knowl- 
edge ?  " 

"As  to  the  when  and  the  how,  the  same  answer  will  suf- 
fice. I  was  serving  as  sous-lieutenant  of  cavalry  in  Africa 
when  news  reached  me  that  the  '  Astradella,'  the  ship  in 
which  my  father  sailed,  was  lost  off  the  Cape  Yerde  islands, 
with  all  on  board.  I  hastened  off  to  Naples,  where  a  Mr. 
Bolton  lived,  who  was  chief  owner  of  the  vessel,  to  hear 
what  tidings  had  reached  him  of  the  disaster,  and  to  learn 
something  of  my  father's  affairs,  for  he  had  been,  if  I  might 
employ  so  fine  a  word  for  so  small  a  function,  his  banker 
for  years.  Indeed,  but  for  Bolton's  friendship  and  pro- 
tection —  how  earned  I  never  knew  —  my  father  would  have 
come  to  grief  years  before,  for  he  was  a  thorough  Italian, 
and  always  up  to  the  neck  in  conspiracies ;  he  had  been  in 
that  Bonapartist  affair  at  Rome ;  was  a  Carbonaro  and  a 
Camorrist,  and  Heaven  knows  what  besides.  And  though 
Bolton  was  a  man  very  unlikely  to  sympathize  with  these 
opinions,  I  take  it  my  respected  parent  must  have  been  a 
bon  diable  that  men  who  knew  him  would  not  willingly  see 
wrecked  and  ruined.  Bolton  was  most  kind  to  myself 
personally.  He  received  me  with  many  signs  of  friendship, 
and  without  troubling  me  with  any  more  details  of  law  than 
were  positively  unavoidable,  put  me  in  possession  of  the 
little  my  father  had  left  behind  him,  which  consisted  of  a 
few  hundred  francs  of  savings  and  an  old  chest,  with  some 
5 


UNIVERSITY 


6Q  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

older  clothes  and  a  rqass  of  papers  and  letters  —  dangerous 
enough,  as  I  discovered,  to  have  compromised  scores  of 
people  —  and  a  strange  old  manuscript  book,  clasped  and 
locked,  called  the  '  Diary  of  Giacorao  Lami,'  with  matter 
in  it  for  half  a  dozen  romances ;  for  Giacomo,  too,  had  the 
conspirator's  taste,  had  known  Danton  intimately,  and  was 
deep  in  the  confidence  of  all  the  Irish  republicans  who  were 
affiliated  with  the  French  revolutionary  party.  But  besides 
this  the  book  contained  a  quantity  of  original  letters ;  and 
when  mention  was  made  in  the  text  of  this  or  that  event, 
the  letter  which  related  to  it,  or  replied  to  some  communi- 
cation about  it,  was  appended  in  the  original.  I  made  this 
curious  volume  my  study  for  weeks,  till,  in  fact,  I  came  to 
know  far  more  about  old  Giacomo  and  his  times  than  I 
ever  knew  about  my  father  and  his  epoch.  There  was  not 
a  country  in  Europe  in  which  he  had  not  lived,  nor,  I 
believe,  one  in  which  he  had  not  involved  himself  in  some 
trouble.  He  loved  his  art,  but  he  loved  political  plotting 
and  conspiracy  even  more,  and  was  ever  ready  to  resign  his 
most  profitable  engagement  for  a  scheme  that  promised  to 
overturn  a  government  or  unthrone  a  sovereign.  My  first 
thought  on  reading  his  curious  reminiscences  was  to  make 
them  the  basis  of  a  memoir  for  publication.  Of  course 
they  were  fearfully  indiscreet,  and  involved  reputations  that 
no  one  had  ever  thought  of  assailing ;  but  they  were  chiefly 
of  persons  dead  and  gone,  and  it  was  only  their  memory 
that  could  suffer.  I  spoke  to  Bolton  about  this.  He  ap- 
proved of  the  notion,  principally  as  a  means  of  helping  me 
to  a  little  money,  which  I  stood  much  in  need  of,  and  gave 
me  a  letter  to  a  friend  in  Paris,  the  well-known  publisher, 
Lecoq,  of  the  Rue  St.  Honore. 

"As  I  was  dealing  with  a  man  of  honor  and  high  char- 
acter, I  had  no  scruple  in  leaving  the  volume  of  old  Giacomo's 
memoirs  in  Lecoq's  hands;  and  after  about  a  week  I  re- 
turned to  learn  what  he  thought  of  it.  He  was  frank  enough 
to  say  that  no  such  diary  had  ever  come  before  him  —  that 
it  cleared  up  a  vast  number  of  points  hitherto  doubtful  and 
obscure,  and  showed  an  amount  of  knowledge  of  the  private 
life  of  the  period  absolutely  marvellous;  '  but,'  said  he,  '  it 
would  never  do  to  make  it  public.     Most  of  these  men  are 


OVER  THE   FIRE.  67 

now  forgotten,  it  is  true,  but  their  descendants  remain,  and 
live  in  honor  amongst  us.  What  a  terrible  scandal  it  would 
be  to  proclaim  to  the  world  that  of  these  people  many  were 
illegitimate,  many  in  the  enjoyment  of  large  fortunes  to 
which  they  had  not  a  shadow  of  a  title ;  in  fact,'  said  he, 
*  it  would  be  to  hurl  a  live  shell  in  the  very  midst  of  society, 
leaving  the  havoc  and  destruction  it  might  cause  to  blind 
chance.  But,'  added  he,  '  it  strikes  me  there  is  a  more  prof- 
itable use  the  volume  might  be  put  to.  Have  you  read  the 
narrative  of  your  grandmother's  marriage  in  Ireland  with 
that  rich  Englishman?'  I  owned  I  had  read  it  carelessly, 
and  without  bestowing  much  interest  on  the  th^me.  '  Go 
back  and  reread  it,'  said  he,  '  and  come  and  talk  it  over 
with  me  to-morrow  evening.'  As  I  entered  his  room  the 
next  night  he  arose  ceremoniously  from  his  chair,  and  said, 
in  a  tone  of  well-assumed  obsequiousness,  '  Si  je  ne  me 
trompe  pas,  j'ai  I'honneur  de  voir  Monsieur  Bramleigh, 
n'est-ce  pas?'  I  laughed,  and  replied,  '  Je  ne  m'y  oppose 
pas,  monsieur ;  '  and  we  at  once  launched  out  into  the  de- 
tails of  the  story,  of  which  each  of  us  had  formed  precisely 
the  same  opinion. 

"  111  luck  would  have  it,  that  as  I  went  back  to  my  lodg- 
ings on  that  night  I  should  meet  Bertani,  and  Varese,  and 
Manini,  and  be  persuaded  to  go  and  sup  with  them.  They 
were  all  suspected  by  the  police,  from  their 'connection 
with  Fieschi ;  and  on  the  morning  after  I  received  an  order 
from  the  Minister  of  War  to  join  my  regiment  at  Oran, 
and  an  intimation  that  my  character  being  fully  known  it 
behooved  me  to  take  care.  I  gave  no  grounds  for  more 
stringent  measures  towards  me.  I  understood  the  'caution,' 
and,  not  wishing  to  compromise  Monsieur  Lecoq,  who  .had 
been  so  friendly  in  all  his  relations  with  me,  I  left  France, 
without  even  an  opportunity  of  getting  back  my  precious 
volume,  which  I  never  saw  again  till  I  revisited  Paris  eight 
years  aftei-,  having  given  in  my  demission  from  the  service. 
Lecoq  obtained  for  me  that  small  appointment  I  held  under 
Monsieur  Lesseps  in  Egypt,  and  which  I  had  given  up  a 
few  weeks  before  I  met  you  on  the  Nile.  I  ought  to  tell 
you  that  Lecoq,  for  what  reason  I  can't  tell,  was  not  so 
fully  persnaded  that  my  claim  was  as  direct  as  he  had  at 


gg  THE   BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

first  tbonglit  it ;  and  indeed  his  advice  to  me  was  rather  to 
address  myself  seriously  to  some  means  of  livelihood,  or  to 
try  and  make  some  compromise  with  the  Bramleighs,  with 
whom  he  deemed  a  mere  penniless  pretender  would  not  have 
the  smallest  chance  of  success.  I  hesitated  a  good  deal 
over  his  counsel.  There  was  much  in  it  that  weighed  with 
me,  perhaps  convinced  me :  but  I  was  always  more  or  less 
of  a  gambler,  and  more  than  once  have  I  risked  a  stake, 
which,  if  I  lost,  would  have  left  me  penniless ;  and  at  last 
I  resolved  to  say,  Va  Banqiie,  here  goes;  all  or  nothing. 
There's  my  story,  mon  cher^  without  any  digressions,  even 
one  of  which,  if  I  had  permitted  myself  to  be  led  into  it, 
would  have  proved  twice  as  long." 

'^  The  strength  of  a  chain  is  the  strength  of  its  weakest 
link,  the  engineers  tell  us,"  said  Longworth,  "  and  it  is  the 
same  with  evidence.  I  'd  like  to  hear  what  Kelson  says  of 
the  case." 

"  That  I  can  scarcely  give  you.  His  last  letter  to  me  is 
full  of  questions  which  I  cannot  answer ;  but  you  shall  read 
it  for  yourself.  Will  you  send  upstairs  for  my  writing- 
desk?" 

"We'll  con  that  over  to-morrow  after  breakfast,  when 
our  heads  will  be  clearer  and  brighter.  Have  you  old  Lami's 
journal  with  you  ?  " 

"No.     All  my  papers  are  with  Kelson.     The  only  thing  . 
I  have  here  is  a  sketch  in  colored  chalk  of  my  grandmother, 
in  her  eighteenth  year,  as  a  Flora,  and,  from  the  date,  it 
must  have  been  done  in  Ireland,  when  Giacomo  was  working 
at  the  frescos." 

"  That  my  father."  said  Pracontal,  after  a  pause,  "  counted 
with  certainty  on  this  succession,  all  his  own  papers  show, 
as  well  as  the  care  he  bestowed  on  my  early  education,  and 
the  importance  he  attached  to  my  knowing  and  speaking 
English  perfectly.  But  my  father  cared  far  more  for  a  con- 
spiracy than  a  fortune.  He  was  one  of  those  men  who  only 
seem  to  live  when  they  are  confronted  by  a  great  danger, 
and  I  believe  there  has  not  been  a  great  plot  in  Europe 
these  la^t  five-and-thirty  years  without  his  name  being  in  it. 
He  was  twice  handed  over  to  the  French  authorities  by  the 
English  Government,  and  there  is  some  reason  to  believe 


OVER  THE  FIRE.  69 

that  the  Bramleighs  were  the  secret  instigators  of  the  extra- 
dition. There  was  no  easier  way  of  getting  rid  of  his 
claims." 

''  These  are  disabilities  which  do  not  attach  to  you." 

"No,  thank  Heaven.  I  have  gone  no  farther  with  these 
men  than  mere  acquaintance.  I  know  them  all,  and  they 
know  me  well  enough  to  know  that  I  deem  it  the  greatest 
disaster  of  my  life  that  my  father  was  one  of  them.  It  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that  a  small  part  of  the  energy  he  be- 
stowed on  schemes  of  peril  and  ruin  would  have  sufficed  to 
have  vindicated  his  claim  to  wealth  and  fortune." 

"  You  told  me,  I  think,  that  Kelson  hinted  at  the  possi- 
bility of  some  compromise,  —  something  which,  sparing  them 
the  penalty  of  publicity,  would  still  secure  to  you  an  ample 
fortune." 

"  Yes.  What  he  said  was,  '  Juries  are,  with  all  their  hon- 
esty of  intention,  capricious  things  to  trust  to ;  '  and  that, 
not  being  rich  enough  to  suffer  repeated  defeats,  an  adverse 
verdict  might  be  fatal  to  me.  I  did  n't  like  the  reasoning: 
altogether,  but  I  was  so  completely  in  his  hands  that  I  for- 
bore to  make  any  objection,  and  so  the  matter  remained." 

"  I  suspect  he  was  right,"  said  Longworth,  thoughtfully. 
"At  the  same  time,  the  case  must  be  strong  enough  to 
promise  victory,  to  sustain  the  proposal  of  a  compromise.'* 

"And  if  I  can  show  the  game  in  my  hand  why  should  I 
not  claim  the  stakes  ?  " 

"  Because  the  other  party  may  delay  the  settlement.  They 
may  challenge  the  cards,  accuse  you  of  '  a  rook,'  put  out  the 
lights  —  anything,  in  short,  that  shall  break  up  the  game." 

"I  see,"  said  Pracontal,  gravely;  "the  lawyer's  notion 
may  be  better  than  I  thought.it." 

A  long  silence  ensued  between  them ;  then  Longworth, 
looking  at  his  watch,  exclaimed,  "Who'd  believe  it?  It 
wants  only  a  few  minutes  to  two  o'clock.     Good-night." 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE    DROPPINGS    OF    A    GREAT    DIPLOMATIST. 

When  a  man's  manner  and  address  are  very  successful  with 
the  world,  —  when  he  possesses  that  power  of  captivatiou 
which  extends  to  people  of  totally  different  tastes  and  hab- 
its, and  is  equally  at  home,  equally  at  his  ease,  with  young 
and  old,  with  men  of  grave  pursuits  and  men  of  pleasure, 
—  it  is  somewhat  hard  to  believe  that  there  must  not  be 
some  strong  sterling  quality  in  his  nature ;  for  we  know 
that  the  base  metals  never  bear  gilding,  and  that  it  is  only 
a  waste  of  gold  to  cover  them  with  it. 

It  would  be,  therefore,  very  pleasant  to  think  that  if 
people  should  not  be  altogether  as  admirable  as  they  were 
agreeable,  yet  that  the  qualities  which  made  the  compan- 
ionship so  delightful  should  be  indications  of  deeper  and 
more  solid  gifts  beneath.  Yet  I  am  afraid  the  theory  will 
not  hold.  I  suspect  that  there  are  a  considerable  number 
of  people  in  this  world  who  go  through  life  trading  on  credit, 
and  who  renew  their  bills  with  humanity  so  gracefully  and 
so  cleverly,  they  are  never  found  out  to  be  bankrupts  till 
they  die. 

A  very  accomplished  specimen  of  this  order  was  Lord 
Culduff.  He  was  a  man  of  very  ordinary  abilities,  com- 
monplace in  every  way,  and  who  had  yet  contrived  to  im- 
press the  world  with  the  notion  of  his  capacity.  He  did  a 
little  of  almost  everything.  He  sang  a  little,  played  a  little 
on  two  or  three  instruments,  talked  a  little  of  several  lan- 
guages, and  had  smatterings  of  all  games  and  field-sports, 
so  that,  to  every  seeming,  nothing  came  amiss  to  him. 
Nature  had  been  gracious  to  him  personally,  and  he  had  a 
voice  very  soft  and  low  and  insinuating. 


THE  DROPPINGS   OF  A  GREAT  DIPLOMATIST.        71 

He  was  not  an  impostor,  for  the  simple  reason  that  he 
believed  in  himself.  He  actually  had  negotiated  his  false 
coinage  so  long,  that  he  got  to  regard  it  as  bullion,  and 
imagined  himself  to  be  one  of  the  first  men  of  his  age. 

The  bad  bank-note,  which  has  been  circulating  freely 
from  hand  to  hand,  no  sooner  comes  under  the  scrutiny  of 
a  sharp-eyed  functionary  of  the  bank  than  it  is  denounced 
and  branded ;  and  so  Culduff  would  speedily  have  been 
treated  by  any  one  of  those  keen  men  who,  as  Ministers, 
grow  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  human  nature  as  thorough 
as  of  the  actual  events  of  the  time. 

The  world  at  large,  however,  had  not  this  estimate  of 
him.  They  read  of  him  as  a  special  envoy  here,  an  extra- 
ordinary minister  there,  now  negotiating  a  secret  treaty, 
now  investing  a  Pasha  of  Egypt  with  the  Bath ;  and  they 
deemed  him  not  only  a  trusty  servant  of  the  Crown,  but  a 
skilled  negotiator,  a  deep  and  accomplished  diplomatist. 

He  was  a  little  short-sighted,  and  it  enabled  him  to  pass 
objectionable  people  without  causing  offence.  He  was 
slightly  deaf,  and  it  gave  him  an  air  of  deference  in  con- 
versation which  many  were  charmed  with ;  for  whenever 
he  failed  to  catch  what  was  said,  his  smile  was  perfectly 
captivating.  It  was  assent,  but  dashed  with  a  sort  of  sly 
flattery,  as  though  it  was  to  the  speaker's  ingenuity  he 
yielded,  as  much  as  to  the  force  of  the  conviction. 

He  was  a  great  favorite  with  women.  Old  ladies  re- 
garded him  as  a  model  of  good  ton;  younger  ones  discov- 
ered other  qualities  in  him  that  amused  them  as  much.  His 
life  had  been  anything  but  blameless,  but  he  had  contrived 
to  make  the  world  believe  he  was  more  sinned  against  than 
sinning,  and  that  every  mischance  that  befell  him  came  of 
that  unsuspectmg  nature  and  easy  disposition  of  which  even 
all  his  experience  of  life  could  not  rob  him. 

Cutbill  read  him  thoroughly;  but  though  Lord  Culduff 
saw  this,  it  did  not  prevent  him  trying  all  his  little  pretty 
devices  of  pleasing  on  the  man  of  culverts  and  cuttings. 
In  fact,  he  seemed  to  feel  that  though  he  could  not  bring 
down  the  bird,  it  was  better  not  to  spoil  his  gun  by  a  change 
of  cartridge,  and  so  he  fired  away  his  usual  little  pleasan- 
tries, well  aware  that  none  of  them  were  successful. 


'72  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

He  had  now  been  three  days  with  the  Bramleighs,  and 
certainly  had  won  the  suffrages,  though  in  different  degrees, 
of  them  aU.  He  had  put  himself  so  frankly  and  unreserv- 
edly in  Colonel  Bramleigh's  hands  about  the  coal-mine,  can- 
didly confessing  the  whole  thing  was  new  to  him,  he  was 
a  child  in  money  matters,  that  the  banker  was  positively 
delighted  with  him. 

With  Augustus  he  had  talked  politics  confidentially,  — 
not  questions  of  policy  nor  statecraft,  not  matters  of  legis- 
lation or  government,  but  the  more  subtle  and  ingenious 
points  as,  to  what  party  a  young  man  entering  life  ought  to 
join,  what  set  he  should  attach  himself  to,  and  what  line 
he  should  take  to  insui'e  future  distinction  and  office.  He 
was  well  up  in  the  gossip  of  the  House,  and  knew  who  was 
disgusted  with  such  an  one,  and  why  So-and-so  "wouldn't 
stand  it "  any  longer. 

To  Temple  Bramleigh  he  was  charming.  Of  the  "  line," 
as  they  love  to  call  it,  he  knew  positively  everything.  Nor 
was  it  merely  how  this  or  that  legation  was  conducted,  how 
this  man  got  on  with  his  chief,  or  why  that  other  had  asked 
to  be  transferred ;  but  he  knew  all  the  mysterious  goings-on 
of  that  wonderful  old  repository  they  call  "  the  Office." 
"  That's  what  you  must  look  to,  Bramleigh,"  he  would  say, 
clapping  him  on  the  shoulder.  "  The  men  who  make  pleni- 
pos  and  envoys  are  not  in  the  Cabinet,  nor  do  they  dine  at 
Osborne ;  they  are  fellows  in  seedy  black,  with  brown  um- 
brellas, who  cross  the  Green  Park  every  morning  about 
eleven  o'clock,  and  come  back  over  the  self-same  track  by 
six  of  an  evening.  Staid  old  dogs,  with  crape  on  then-  hats, 
and  hard  lines  round  their  mouths,  fond  of  fresh' caviare  from 
Russia,  and  much  given  to  cursuig  the  messengers." 

He  was,  in  a  word,  the  incarnation  of  a  very  well-bred 
selfishness,  that  had  learned  how  much  it  redounds  to  a 
man's  personal  comfort  that  he  is  popular,  and  that  even  a 
weak  swimmer  who  goes  with  the  tide  makes  a  better  figure 
than  the  strongest  and  bravest  who  attempts  to  stem  the 
current.  He  was,  in  his  way,  a  keen  observer ;  and  a  cer- 
tain haughty  tone,  a  kind  of  self-assertion,  in  Marion's 
manner,  so  distinguished  her  from  her  sister,  that  he  set 
Cutbill  to  ascertain  if  it  had  any  other  foundation  than  mere 


THE  DROPPINGS   OF  A  GREAT   DIPLOMATIST.        73 

temperament ;  and  the  wily  agent  was  not  long  in  learning 
that  a  legacy  of  twenty  thousand  pounds  in  her  own  absolute 
right  from  her  mother's  side  accounted  for  these  pretensions. 

"  I  tell  you,  Cutty,  it 's  only  an  old  diplomatist  like  myself 
would  have  detected  the  share  that  bank  debentures  had  in 
that  gu-l's  demeanor.     Confess,  sir,  it  was  a  clever  hit." 

"  It  was  certainly  neat,  my  Lord." 

"  It  was  more,  Cutty  ;  it  was  deep,  —  downright  deep.  I 
saw  where  the  idiosyncrasy  stopped,  and  where  the  dividends 
came  in." 

Cutbill  smiled  an  approving  smile,  ai>d  his  Lordship  turned 
to  the  glass  over  the  chimney-piece  and  looked  admkingly 
at  himself. 

"  Was  it  twenty  thousand  you  said?  "  asked  he,  indolently. 

"  Yes,  my  Lord,  twenty.  Her  father  will  probably  give 
her  as  much  more.  Harding  told  me  yesterday  that  all  the 
younger  children  are  to  have  share  and  share  alike,  —  no 
distinction  made  between  sons  and  daughters." 

''  So  that  she  '11  have  what  a  Frenchman  would  call  '  un 
million  de  dot.' " 

"  Just  about  what  we  want,  my  Lord,  to  start  our  enter- 
prise." 

*'Ah,  yes.  I  suppose  that  would  do;  but  we  shall  do 
this  by  a  company,  Cutty.  Have  you  said  anything  to 
Bramleigh  yet  on  the  subject?  " 

^'  Nothing  further  than  what  I  told  you  yesterday.  I 
gave  him  the  papers  with  the  surveys  and  the  specifications, 
and  he  said  he  'd  look  over  them  this  morning,  and  that  I 
might  drop  in  upon  him  to-night  in  the  library  after  ten.  It 
is  the  time  he  likes  best  for  a  little  quiet  chat." 

"  He  seems  a  very  cautious,  1  'd  almost  say  a  timid  man." 

"  The  city  men  are  all  like  that,  my  Lord.  They  're  always 
cold  enough  in  entering  on  a  project,  though  they'll  go 
rashly  on  after  they've  put  their  money  in  it." 

''  What's  the  eldest  son?  " 

*'  A  fool,  —  just  a  fool.  He  urged  his  father  to  contest  a 
county,  to  lay  a  claim  for  a  peerage.  They  lost  the  election 
and  lost  their  money ;  but  Augustus  Bramleigh  persists  in 
thinking  that  the  party  are  still  their  debtors." 

*'  Very  hard  to  make  Ministers  believe  that,"  said  Culduff, 


74  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

with  a  grin.  "  A  vote  in  the  House  is  like  a  bird  in  the 
hand.     The  second  fellow,  Temple,  is  a  poor  creature." 

"  Ain't  he?     Not  that  he  thinks  so." 

"No;  they  never  do,"  said  Culduff,  caressing  his  whis- 
kers, and  looking  pleasantly  at  himself  in  the  glass.  "  They 
see  one  or  two  men  of  mark  in  their  career,  and  they  fancy 

Heaven  knows  why  —  that  they  must  be  like  them  ;   that 

identity  of  pursuit  implies  equality  of  intellect ;  and  so  these 
creatures  spread  out  their  little  sails,  and  imagine  they  are 
going  to  make  a  grand  voyage." 

"  But  Miss  Bramleigh  told  me  yesterday  you  had  a  high 
opinion  of  her  brother  Temple." 

"  I  believe  I  said  so,"  said  he,  with  a  soft  smile.  "  One 
says  these  sort  of  things  every  day,  irresponsibly.  Cutty, 
irresponsibly,  just  as  one  gives  his  autograph,  but  would 
think 4wice  before  signing  his  name  on  a  stamped  paper." 

Mr.  Cutbill  laughed  at  this  sally,  and  seemed  by  the 
motion  of  his  lips  as  though  he  were  repeating  it  to  himself 
for  future  retail;  but  in  what  spirit,  it  would  not  be  safe 
perhaps  to  inquire. 

Though  Lord  Culduff  did  not  present  himself  at  the 
family  break  fast- table,  and  but  rarely  appeared  at  luncheon, 
pretexting  that  his  mornings  were  always  given  up  to 
business  and  letter-writing,  he  usually  came  down  in  the 
afternoon  in  some  toilet  admirably  suited  to  the  occasion, 
whatever  it  might  be,  of  riding,  driving,  or  walking.  In 
fact,  a  mere  glance  at  his  Lordship's  costume  would  have 
unmistakably  shown  whether  a  canter,  the  croquet  lawn,  or 
a  brisk  walk  through  the  shrubberies  were  in  the  order  of 
the  day. 

"Do  you  remember.  Cutty,"  said  he,  suddenly,  "what 
was  my  engagement  for  this  morning?  I  promised  some- 
body to  go  somewhere  and  do  something ;  and  I  '11  be  shot 
if  I  can  recollect." 

"  I  am  totally  unable  to  assist  your  Lordship,"  said  the 
other,  with  a  smile.  "  The  young  men,  I  know,  are  out 
shooting,  and  Miss  Eleanor  Bramleigh  is  profiting  by  the 
snow  to  have  a  day's  sledging.  She  proposed  to  me  to  join 
her,  but  I  did  n't  see  it." 

"  Ah !  I  have  it  now,  Cutty.     I  was  to  walk  over  to  Port- 


THE  DROPPINGS  OF  A  GREAT  DIPLOMATIST.        75 

shandon,  to  return   the  curate's  call.     Miss  Bramleigh  was 
to  come  with  me." 

"  It  was  scarcely  gallant,  my  Lord,  to  forget  so  charming 
a  project,"  said  the  other,  slyly. 

"  Gallantry  went  out.  Cutty,  with  slashed  doublets.     The 
height  and  the  boast  of  our  modern  civilization  is  to  make 
women  our  perfect  equals,  and  to  play  the  game  of  life  with 
them  on  an  absolutely  equal  footing." 
"Is  that  quite  fair?" 

"  I  protest  I  think  it  is.  Except  in  a  few  rare  instances, 
where  the  men  unite  to  the  hardier  qualities  of  the  masculine 
intelligence  the  nicer,  finer,  most  susceptible  instincts  of 
the  other  sex, — the  organization  that  more  than  any  other 
touches  on  excellence,  —  except,  I  say,  in  these  cases,  the 
women  have  the  best  of  it.  Now  what  chance,  I  ask  you, 
would  you  have,  pitted  against  such  a  girl  as  the  elder  " 
Bramleigh?" 

"  I  'm  afraid  a  very  poor  one,"  said  Cutbill,  with  a  look  of 
deep  humility. 

"  Just  so.  Cutty,  a  very  poor  one.  I  give  you  my  word  of 
honor  I  have  learned  more  diplomacy  beside  the  drawing- 
room  fire  than  I  ever  acquired  in  the  pages  of  the  blue- 
books.  You  see  it 's  a  quite  different  school  of  fence  they 
practise ;  the  thrusts  are  different,  and  the  guards  are  dif- 
ferent. A  day  for  furs  essentially,  a  day  for  furs,"  broke 
he  in,  as  he  drew  on  a  coat  lined  with  sable,  and  profusely 
braided  and  ornamented.  What  was  I  saying?  where  were 
we?" 

"  You  were  talking  of  women,  my  Lord." 
"  The  faintest  tint  of  scarlet  in  the  under  vest  —  it  was  a 
device  of  the  Regent's  in  his  really  great  day  —  is  always 
effective  in  cold,  bright,  frosty  weather.  The  tint  is  carried 
on  to  the  cheek,  and  adds  brilliancy  to  the  eye.  In  duller 
weather  a  coral  pin  in  the  cravat  will  suffice ;  but,  as  David 
Wilkie  used  to  say,  '•  Nature  must  have  her  bit  of  red.' " 

"I  wish  you  would  finish  what  you  were   saying  about 

women,  my  Lord.     Your  remarks  were  full  of  originality." 

"Finish!  finish.  Cutty!     It  would  take  as  many  volumes 

as  the  '  Abridgement  of  the  Statutes '  to  contain  one-half  of 

what  I  could  say   about  them;   and,  after  all,  it  would  be 


76  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

Sanscrit  to  you."  His  Lordship  now  placed  his  hat  on  his 
head,  slightly  on  one  side.  It  was  the  "  tigerism"  of  a  past 
period,  and  which  he  could  no  more  abandon  than  he  could 
give  up  the  jaunty  swagger  of  his  walk,  or  the  bland  smile 
which  he  kept  ready  for  recognition. 

"  I  have  not,  I  rejoice  to  say,  arrived  at  that  time  of  life 
when  I  can  affect  to  praise  bygones ;  but  I  own.  Cutty,  they 
did  everything  much  better  five-and-twenty  years  ago  than 
now.  They  dined  better,  they  dressed  better,  they  drove 
better,  they  turned  out  better  in  the  field  and  in  the  park, 
and  they  talked  better." 

"  How  do  you  account  for  this,  my  Lord?  " 

"  Simply  in  this  way.  Cutty.  We  have  lowered  our 
standard  in  taste  just  as  we  have  lowered  oui'  standard  for 
the  army.  We  take  fellows  five  feet  seven  into  grenadier 
companies  now ;  that  is,  we  admit  into  society  men  of  mere 
wealth,  —  the  banker,  the  brewer,  the  railway  director,  and 
the  rest  of  them ;  and  with  these  people  we  admit  their  ways, 
their  tastes,  theii-  very  expressions.  I  know  it  is  said  that 
we  gain  in  breadth ;  yet,  as  I  told  Lord  Cockle thorpe  (the 
mot  had  its  success) ,  —  what  we  gain  in  breadth,  said  I,  we 
lose  in  height.  Neat,  Cutty,  was  n't  it?  As  neat  as  a  mot 
well  ^can  be  in  our  clumsy  language." 

^nd  with  this,  and  a  familiar  "Bye-bye,"  he  strolled 
away,  leaving  Cutbill  to  practise  before  the  glass  such  an 
imitation  of  him  as  might  serve,  at  some  future  time,  to 
convulse  with  laughter  a  select  and  admii'ing  audience. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

A    WINTER    day's    WALK. 

Lord  Culduff  and  Marion  set  out  for  their  walk.  It  was 
a  sharp  frosty  morning,  with  a  blue  sky  above  and  crisp 
snow  beneath.  We  have  already  seen  that  his  Lordship  had 
not  been  inattentive  to  the  charms  of  costume.  Marion  wasj 
no  less  so;  her  dark  silk  dress,  looped  over  a  scarlet  petti- 
coat, and  a  tasteful  hat  of  black  astracan,  well  suited  the 
character  of  looks  where  the  striking  and  brilliant  were  as| 
conspicuous  as  dark  eyes,  long  lashes,  and  a  bright  com-! 
plexion  could  make  them. 

"I'll  take  you  by  the  shrubberies,  my  Lord,  which  is 
somewhat  longer,  but  pleasanter  walking;  and,  if  you  like 
it,  we  '11  come  back  by  the  hill  path,  which  is  much 
shorter." 

"The  longer  the  road  the  more  of  your  company,  Miss 
Bramleigh.  Therein  lies  my  chief  interest,"  said  he, 
bowing. 

They  talked  away  pleasantly,  as  they  went  along,  of  the 
country  and  the  scenery,  of  which  new  glimpses  continually 
presented  themselves,  and  of  the  country  people  and  their 
ways,  so  new  to  each  of  them.  They  agreed  wonderfully 
on  almost  everything,  but  especially  as  to  the  character  of 
the  Irish, —  so  simple,  so  confiding,  so  trustful,  so  grateful 
for  benefits,  and  so  eager  to  be  well  governed !  They  knew 
it  all,  the  whole  complex  web  of  Irish  difficulty  and  Eng- 
lish misrule  was  clear  and  plain  before  them;  and  then,  as 
they  talked,  they  gained  a  height  from  which  the  blue  broad 
sea  was  visible,  and  thence  descried  a  solitary  sail  afar  off, 
that  set  them  speculating  on  what  the  island  might  become 
when  commerce  and  trade  should  visit  her,  and  rich  cargoes 
should  cumber  her  quays,  and  crowd  her  harbors.     Marion 


78  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

was  strong  in  her  knowledge  of  industrial  resources;  but  as 
an  accomplished  aide-de-camp  always  rides  a  little  behind 
his  chief,  so  did  she  restrain  her  acquaintance  with  these 
topics,  and  keep  them  slightly  to  the  rear  of  all  his  Lordship 
advanced.  And  then  he  grew  confidential,  and  talked  of 
coal,  which  ultimately  led  him  to  himself,  —  the  theme  of 
all  he  liked  the  best.  And  how  differently  did  he  talk  now! 
What  vigor  and  animation,  what  spirit  did  he  not  throw 
into  his  sketch !  It  was  the  story  of  a  great  man,  unjustly, 
hardly  dealt  with,  persecuted  by  an  ungenerous  rivalry,  the 
victim  of  envy.  For  half,  ay,  for  the  tithe  of  what  he  had 
done,  others  had  got  their  advancement  in  the  peerage, — 
their  blue  ribbons  and  the  rest  of  it;  but  Canning  had  been 
jealous  of  him,  and  the  Duke  was  jealous  of  him,  and 
Palmerston  never  liked  him.  ''Of  course,"  he  said,  "these 
are  things  a  man  buries  in  his  own  breast.  Of  all  the  sor- 
rows one  encounters  in  life,  the  slights  are  those  he  last 
confesses;  how  I  came  to  speak  of  them  now  I  can't 
imagine  —  can  you?"  and  he  turned  fully  towards  her, 
and  saw  that  she  blushed  and  cast  down  her  eyes  at  the 
question. 

"But,  my  Lord,"  said  she,  evading  the  reply,  "you  give 
me  the  idea  of  one  who  would  not  readily  succumb  to  an 
injustice.     Am  I  right  in  my  reading  of  you?" 

"I  trust  and  hope  you  are,"  said  he,  haughtily;  "and  it 
is  my  pride  to  think  I  have  inspired  that  impression  on  so 
brief  an  acquaintance." 

"It  is  my  own  temper,  too,"  she  added.  "You  may  con- 
vince, you  cannot  coerce  me." 

"I  wish  I  might  try  the  former,"  said  he,  in  a  tone  of 
much  meaning. 

"We  agree  in  so  many  things,  my  Lord,"  said  she, 
laughingly,  "  that  there  is  little  occasion  for  your  persuasive 
power.  There,  do  you  see  that  smoke-wreath  yonder? 
That's  from  the  cottage  where  we're  going." 

"I  wish  I  knew  where  we  were  going,"  said  he,  with  a 
sigh  of  wonderful  tenderness. 

"To  Roseneath,  my  Lord.  I  told  you  the  L'Estranges 
lived  there." 

"Yes;  but  it  was  not  that  I  meant,"  added  be,  feelingly. 


A  WINTER   DAY'S   WALK.  79 

''And  a  pretty  spot  it  is,"  continued  she,  purposely  mis- 
understanding him;  "so  sheltered  and  secluded.  By  the 
way,  what  do  you  think  of  the  curate's  sister?  She  is  very 
beautiful,  isn't  she?" 

"Am  I  to  say  the  truth?  " 

"Of  course  you  are." 

"I  mean,  may  I  speak  as  though  we  knew  each  other  very 
well,   and  could  talk  in  confidence  together?" 

"That  is  what  I  mean." 

"And  wish?"  added  he. 

"Well,  and  wish,  if  you  will  supply  the  word." 

"If  I  am  to  be  frank,  then,  I  don't  admire  her." 

"Not  think  her  beautiful?" 

"Yes;  there  is  some  beauty, —  a  good  deal  of  beauty,  if 
you  like;  but  somehow  it  is  not  allied  with  that  brightness 
that  seems  to  accentuate  beauty.     She  is  tame  and  cold." 

"I  think  men  generally  accuse  her  of  coquetry." 

"And  there  is  coquetry,  too;  but  of  that  character  the 
French  call  minauderle,  the  weapon  of  a  very  small  en- 
chantress, I  assure  you." 

"You  are,  then,  for  the  captivations  that  give  no  quar^ 
ter?"  said  she,   smiling. 

"It  is  a  glory  to  be  so  vanquished,"  said  he,  heroically. 

"My  sister  declared  the  other  night,  after  Julia  had  sung 
that  barcarolle,  that  you  were  fatally  smitten." 

"And  did  you  concur  in  the  judgment?  "  asked  he, 
tenderly. 

"  At  first,  perhaps  I  did ;  but  when  I  came  to  know  you 
a  little  better  —  " 

"After  our  talk  on  the  terrace?  " 

"And  even  before  that.  When  Julia  was  singing  for 
you,  — clearly  for  you,  there  was  no  disguise  in  the  matter, — 
and  I  whispered  you,  'What  courage  you  have!  '  you  said, 
'I  have  been  so  often  under  fire' — from  that  instant  I 
knew  you." 

"  Knew  me  —  how  far?  " 

"Enough  to  know  that  it  was  not  to  such  captivations 
you  would  yield, —  that  you  had  seen  a  great  deal  of  that 
sort  of  thing." 

"Oh,  have  I  not!" 


80  THE   BllAMLElGHS   OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"Perhaps  not  always  unscathed,"  said  she,  with  a  sly 
glance. 

"I  will  scarcely  go  that  far,"  replied  he,  with  the  air  of 
a  man  on  the  best  possible  terms  with  himself.  "They  say 
he  is  the  best  rider  who  has  had  the  most  falls.  At  least, 
it  may  be  said  that  he  w^ho  has  met  no  disasters  has  encoun- 
tered few  perils." 

"Now,  my  Lord,  you  can  see  the  cottage  completely.  Is 
it  not  very  pretty,  and  very  picturesque,  and  is  there  not 
something  very  interesting  —  touching  almost,  in  the" 
thought  of  beauty  and  captivation  —  dwelling  in  this  un- 
travelled  wilderness  ?  " 

He  almost  gave  a  little  shudder,  as  his  eye  followed  the 
line  of  the  rugged  mountain,  till  it  blended  with  the  bleak 
and  shingly  shore  on  which  the  waves  were  now  washing  in 
measured  plash, —  the  one  sound  in  the  universal  silence 
around. 

^' Nothing  but  being  desperately  in  love  could  make  this 
solitude  endurable,"  said  he  at  last. 

"  Why  iiot  try  that  resource,  my  Lord  ?  I  could  almost 
promise  you  that  the  young  lady  who  lives  yonder  is  quite 
ready  to  be  adored  and  worshipped,  and  all  that  sort  of 
thing;  and  it  would  be  such  a  boon  on  the  frosty  days, 
when  the  ground  is  too  hard  for  hunting,  to  have  this  little 
bit  of  romance  aw^aiting  you." 

"  Coquetry  and  French  cookery  pall  upon  a  man  who  has 
lived  all  his  life  abroad,  and  he  actur.lly  longs  for  a  little 
plain  diet,   in  manners  as  well  as  meals." 

"And  then  you  have  seen  all  the  pretty  acts  of  our  very 
pretty  neighbor  so  much  better  doneV" 

"Done  by  real  artists,"  added  he. 

"Just  so.  Amateurship  is  always  a  poor  thing.  This  is 
the  way,  my  Lord.  If  you  will  follow  me,  I  will  be  your 
guide  here;  the  path  here  is  very  slippery,  and  you  must 
take  care  how  you  go." 

"When  I  fall,  it  shall  be  at  your  feet,"  said  he,  with  his 
hand  on  his  heart. 

As  they  gained  the  bottom  of  the  little  ravine  down 
which  the  footpath  lay,  they  found  Julia,  hoe  in  hand,  at 
work   in  the    garden  before  the  door.     Her  dark  woollen 


A   WINTER   DAY'S   WALK.  81 

dress  and  her  straw  hat  were  only  relieved  in  color  by  a 
blue  ribbon  round  her  throat,  but  she  was  slightly  flushed 
by  exercise,  and  a  little  flurried,  perhaps,  by  the  surprise 
of  seeing  them,  and  her  beauty,  this  time,  certainly  lacked 
nothing  of  that  brilliancy  which  Lord  Culduff  had  pro- 
nounced it  deficient  in. 

"My  brother  will  be  so  sorry  to  have  missed  you,  my 
Lord,"  said  she,  leading  the  way  into  the  little  drawing- 
room,  where,  amidst  many  signs  of  narrow  fortune,  there 
were  two  or  three  of  those  indications  which  vouch  for 
cultivated  tastes  and  pleasures. 

"I  had  told  Lord  Culduff  so  much  about  your  cottage, 
Julia,"  said  Marion,  "that  he  insisted  on  coming  to  see  it, 
without  even  apprising  you  of  his  intention." 

"It  is  just  as  well,"  said  she  artlessly.  "A  little  more 
or  less  sun  gives  the  only  change  in  its  appearance.  Lord 
Culduff  sees  it  now  as  it  looks  nearly  every  day." 

"And  very  charming  that  is,"  said  he,  walking  to  J:hc 
window  and  looking  out.  And  then  he  asked  the  name  of 
a  headland,  and  how  a  small  rocky  island  was  called,  and 
on  which  side  lay  the  village  of  Portshandon,  and  at  what 
distance  was  the  church,  the  replies  to  which  seemed  to 
afford  him  unmixed  satisfaction;  for,  as  he  resumed  his 
seat,  he  muttered  several  times  to  himself,  "Very  delight- 
ful indeed;  very  pleasing  in  every  way!" 

"Lord  Cnlduff  was  asking  me,  as  he  came  along,"  said 
Marion,  "whether  I  thought  the  solitude  —  I  think  he  called 
it  the  savagery  of  this  spot  —  was  likely  to  be  better  borue 
by  one  native  to  such  wildness,  or  by  one  so  graced  and 
gifted  as  yourself,  and  I  protest  he  puzzled  me." 

"  I  used  to  think  it  very  lonely  when  I  came  here  first, 
but  I  believe  I  should  be  sorry  to  leave  it  now,"  said  Julia, 
calmly. 

"There,  my  Lord,"  said  Marion,  "you  are  to  pick  your 
answer  out  of  that." 

"As  to  those  resources  which  you  are  so  flattering  as  to 
call  my  gifts  and  graces,"  said  Julia,  laughing,  "such  of 
them  at  least  as  lighten  the  solitude  were  all  learned  here, 
I  never  took  to  gardening  before ;  I  never  fed  poultry. " 

"Oh,  Julia!  have  mercy  on  our  illusions!  " 


82  THE  BKAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"You  must  tell  me  what  they  are,  before  I  can  spare 
them.  The  curate's  sister  has  no  claim  to  be  thought  an 
enchanted  princess." 

"  It  is  all  enchantment !  "  said  Lord  Culduff,  who  had 
only  very  imperfectly  caught  what  she  said. 

"Then,  I  suppose,  my  Lord,"  said  Marion,  haughtily, 
"I  ought  to  rescue  you  before  the  spell  is  complete,  as  I 
came  here  in  quality  of  guide."  And  she  rose  as  she  spoke. 
"  The  piano  has  not  been  opened  to-day,  Julia.  I  take  it 
you  seldom  sing  of  a  morning?" 

"Very  seldom,  indeed." 

"So  I  told  Lord  Culduff ;  but  I  promised  him  his  recom- 
pense in  the  evening.  You  are  coming  to  us  to-morrow, 
ain't  you? " 

"I  fear  not.  I  think  George  made  our  excuses.  ^Ye  are 
to  have  Mr.  Longworth  and  a  French  friend  of  his  here  with 
us." 

"You  see,  my  Lord,  what  a  gay  neighborhood  we  have; 
here  is  a  rival  dinner-party,"  said  Marion. 

"There's  no  question  of  a  dinner;  they  come  to  tea,  I 
assui*e  you,"  said  Julia,  laughing. 

"No,  my  Lord,  it's-  useless;  quite  hopeless.  I  assure 
you  she  '11  not  sing  for  you  of  a  morning."  This  speech 
was  addressed  to  Lord  Culduff,  as  he  was  turning  over  some 
music-books  on  the  piano. 

"  Have  I  your  permission  to  look  at  these  ?  "  said  he  to 
Julia,  as  he  opened  a  book  of  drawings  in  water-colors. 

"  Of  course,  my  Lord.  They  are  mere  sketches  taken  in 
the  neighorhood  here,  and,  as  you  will  see,  very  hurriedly 
done." 

"  And  have  you  such  coast  scenery  as  this  ?  "  asked  he, 
in  some  astonishment,  while  he  held  up  a  rocky  headland 
of  several  hundred  feet,  out  of  the  caves  at  whose  base  a 
tumultuous  sea  was  tumbling. 

"I  could  show  you  finer  and  bolder  bits  than  even  that." 

"Do  you  hear,  my  Lord?"  said  Marion,  in  a  low  tone, 
only  audible  to  himself.  "  The  fair  Julia  is  offering  to  be 
your  guide.  I  'm  afraid  it  is  growing  late.  One  does  for- 
get time  at  this  cottage.  It  was  only  the  last  day  I  came 
here  I  got  scolded  for  being  late  at  dinner." 


A  WINTER  DAY'S  WALK.  83 

And  now  ensued  one  of  those  little  bustling  scenes  of 
shawling  and  embracing  with  which  young  ladies  separate. 
They  talked  together,  and  laughed,  and  kissed,  and  answered 
half-uttered  sentences,  and  even  seemed  after  parting  to 
have  something  more  to  say ;  they  were  by  turns  sad,  and 
playful,  and  saucy  —  all  of  these  moods  being  duly  accom- 
panied by  graceful  action,  and  a  chance  display  of  a  hand 
or  foot,   as  it  might  be,   and  then  they  parted. 

"Well,  my  Lord,"  said  Marion,  as  they  ascended  the 
steep  path  that  led  homewards,  ''what  do  you  say  now?  Is 
Julia  as  cold  and  impassive  as  you  pronounced  her,  or  are 
you  ungrateful  enough  to  ignore  fascinations  all  displayed 
and  developed  for  your  own  especial  captivation  ?  " 

"It  was  very  pretty  coquetry,  all  of  it,"  said  he,  smiling. 
"Her  eyelashes  are  even  longer  than  I  thought  them." 

"I  saw  that  you  remarked  them,  and  she  was  gracious 
enough  to  remain  looking  at  the  drawing  sufficiently  long 
to  allow  you  full  time  for  the  enjoyment." 

The  steep  and  rugged  paths  were  quite  as  much  as  Lord 
Culduff  could  manage  without  talking,  and  he  toiled  along 
after  her  in  silence,  till  they  gained  the  beach. 

"At  last  a  bit  of  even  ground,"  exclaimed  he,  with  a 
sigh. 

"You'll  think  nothing  of  the  hill,  my  Lord,  when  you've 
come  it  three  or  four  times,"  said  she,  with  a  malicious 
twinkle  of  the  eye. 

"Which  is  precisely  what  I  have  no  intention  of  doing." 
"What!    not  cultivate  the  acquaintance  so   auspiciously 
opened  ?  " 

"Not  at  this  price,"  said  he,  looking  at  his  splashedi^ 
boots. 

"And  that  excursion,  that  ramble,  or  whatever  be  the 
name  for  it,  you  were  to  take  together?" 

"It  is  a  bliss,  I  am  afraid,  I  must  deny  myself." 
"  You  are  wrong,  my  Lord,  —  very  wrong.  My  brothers 
at  least  assure  me  that  Julia  is  charming  en  tete-a-tete. 
Indeed,  Augustus  says  one  does  not  know  her  at  all  till  you 
have  passed  an  hour  or  two  in  such  confidential  intimacy. 
He  says  'she  comes  out' — whatever  that  may  be  —  won- 
derfully." 


84  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOPS   FOLLY. 

"  Oh,  she  comes  out,  does  she  ?  "  said  he,  caressing  his 
whiskers. 

"That  was  his  phrase  for  it.  I  take  it  to  mean  that  she 
ventures  to  talk  with  a  freedom  more  common  on  the  Con- 
tinent than  in  these  islands.  Is  that  coming  out,  my 
Lord?" 

"Well,  I  half  suspect  it  is,"  said  he,  smiling  faintly. 

''And  I  suppose  men  like  that?  " 

"I  'm  afraid,  my  dear  Miss  Bramleigh,"  said  he,  with  a 
mock  air  of  deploring  —  "I  'm  afraid  that  in  these  degener- 
ate days  men  are  very  prone  to  like  whatever  gives  them 
least  trouble  in  everything,  and  if  a  woman  will  condescend 
to  talk  to  us  on  our  own  topics,  and  treat  them  pretty  much 
in  our  own  way,  we  like  it,  simply  because  it  diminishes 
the  distance  between  us,  and  saves  us  that  uphill  clamber 
we  are  obliged  to  take  when  you  insist  upon  our  scrambling 
up  to  the  high  level  you  live  in." 

"  It  is  somewhat  of  an  ignoble  confession  you  have  made 
there,"  said   she,  haughtily. 

"I  know  it  —  I  feel  it  —  I  deplore  it,"  said  he,  affectedly. 

"If  men  will,  out  of  mere  indolence  —  no  matter,"  said 
she,  biting  her  lip.     "  I  '11  not  say  what  I  was  going  to  say." 

"Pray  do.  I  beseech  you  finish  what  you  have  so  well 
begun." 

"Were  I  to  do  so,  my  Lord,"  said  she,  gravely,  "it 
might  finish  more  than  that.  It  might  at  least  go  some 
way  towards  finishing  our  acquaintanceship.  I  'm  sorely 
afraid  you  'd  not  have  forgiven  me  had  you  heard  me  out." 

"  I  'd  never  have  forgiven  myself,  if  I  were  the  cause  of 
it." 

For  some  time  they  walked  along  in  silence,  and  now  the 
great  house  came  into  view  —  its  windows  all  glowing  and 
glittering  in  the  blaze  of  a  setting  sun,  while  a  faint  breeze 
lazily  moved  the  heavy  folds  of  the  enormous  flag  that 
floated  over  the  high  tower. 

"I  call  that  a  very  princely  place,"  said  he,  stopping  to 
admire  it. 

"What  a  caprice  to  have  built  it  in  such  a  spot,"  said 
she.  "  The  country  people  were  not  far  wrong  when  they 
called  it  Bishop's  Folly." 


A  WINTER  DAY'S   WALK.  85 

*'Tliey  gave  it  that  name,  did  they?  " 

''Yes,  my  Lord.  It  is  one  of  the  ways  in  which  humble 
folk  reconcile  themselves  to  lowly  fortune;  they  ridicule 
their  betters."  And  now  she  gave  a  little  low  laugh  to 
herself,  as  if  some  unuttered  notion  had  just  amused  her. 

"What  made  you  smile?"  asked  he. 

"A  very  absurd  fancy  struck  me." 

''Let  me  hear  it.     Why  not  let  me  share  in  its  oddity?  " 

"It  might  not  amuse  you  as  much  as  it  amused  me." 

"I  am  the  only  one  who  can  decide  that  point." 

"Then  I  'm  not  so  certain  it  might  not  annoy  you." 

"I  can  assure  you  on  that  head,"  said  he,  gallantly. 

"Well,  then,  you  shall  hear  it.  The  caprice  of  a  great 
divine  has,  so  to  say,  registered  itself  yonder,  and  will 
live,  so  long  as  stone  and  mortar  endure,  as  Bishop's  Folly; 
and  I  was  thinking  how  strange  it  would  be  if  another 
caprice  just  as  unaccountable  were  to  give  a  name  to  a  less 
pretentious  edifice,  and  a  certain  charming  cottage  be  known 
to  posterity  as  the  Viscount's  Folly.  You  're  not  angry 
with  me,  are  you?" 

"  I  'd  be  very  angry  indeed  with  you,  with  myself,  and 
with  the  whole  world,  if  I  thought  such  a  casualty  a 
possibility." 

"I  assure  you,  when  I  said  it  I  did  n't  believe  it,  my 
Lord,"  said  she,  looking  at  him  with  much  graciousness ; 
"  and,  indeed,  I  would  never  have  uttered  the  impertinence 
if  you  had  not  forced  me.  There,  there  goes  the  first  bell ; 
we  shall  have  short  time  to  dress."  And,  with  a  very 
meaning  smile  and  a  familiar  gesture  of  her  hand,  she 
tripped  up  the  steps  and  disappeared. 

"I  think  I  'm  all  right  in  that  quarter,"  was  his  lord- 
ship's reflection  as  he  mounted  the  stairs  to  his  room. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

r 
AN   EVENING    BELOW   AND    ABOVE    STAIRS. 

It  was  not  very  willingly  that  Mr.  Cutbill  left  the  drawing- 
room,  where  he  had  been  performing  a  violoncello  accom- 
paniment to  one  of  the  young  ladies  in  the  execution  of 
something  very  Mendelssohnian  and  profoundly  puzzling 
to  the  uninitiated  in  harmonics.  After  the  peerage  he 
loved  counterpoint ;  and  it  was  really  hard  to  tear  himself 
away  from  passages  of  almost  piercing  shrillness,  or  those 
still  more  suggestive  moanings  of  a  double  bass,  to  talk 
stock  and  share-list  with  Colonel  Bramleigh  in  the  library. 
Resisting  all  the  assurances  that  "papa  wouldn't  mind  it, 
that  any  other  time  would  do  quite  as  well,"  and  such  like, 
he  went  up  to  his  room  for  his  books  and  papers,  and  then 
repaired  to  his  rendezvous. 

"1  'm  sorry  to  take  you  away  from  the  drawing-room, 
Mr.  Cutbill,"  said  Bramleigh,  as  he  entered;  "but  I  am 
half  expecting  a  summons  to  town,  and  could  not  exactly 
be  sure  of  an  opportunity  to  talk  over  this  matter  on  which 
Lord  Culduff  is  very  urgent  to  have  my  opinion." 

"It  is  not  easy,  I  confess,  to  tear  oneself  away  from  such 
society.  Your  daughters  are  charming  musicians.  Colonel. 
Miss  Bramleigh's  style  is  as  brilliant  as  Meyer's;  and 
Miss  Eleanor  has  a  delicacy  of  touch  I  have  never  heard 
surpassed." 

"This  is  very  flattering,  coming  from  so  consummate  a 
judge  as  yourself." 

"All  the  teaching  in  the  world  will  not  impart  that  sen- 
sitive organization  which  sends  some  tones  into  the  heart 
like  the  drip,  drip  of  water  on  a  heated  brow.  Oh,  dear! 
music  is  too  much  for  me ;  it  totally  subverts  all  my  senti- 
ments. I  'm  not  fit  for  business  after  it.  Colonel  Bramleigh, 
that's  the  fact." 


AN  EVENING  BELOW  AND   ABOVE   STAIRS.  87 

'''Take  a  glass  of  that  'Bra  Mouton/  You  will  find  it 
good.  It  has  been  eight-and-thirty  years  in  my  cellar,  and 
I  never  think  of  bringing  it  out  except  for  a  connoisseur  in 
wine." 

"Nectar,  — positively  nectar,"  said  he,  smacking  his  lips. 
"You  are  quite  right  not  to  give  this  to  the  public.  They 
would  drink  it  like  a  mere  full-bodied  Bordeaux.  That 
velvety  softness  —  that  subdued  strength,  faintly  recalling 
Burgundy,  and  that  delicious  bouquet,  would  all  be  clean 
thrown  away  on  most  people.  I  declare,  I  believe  a  refined 
palate  is  just  as  rare  as  a  correct  ear;  don't  you  think  so?" 

"I'm  glad  you  like  the  wine.  Don't  spare  it.  The 
cellar  is  not  far  off.  Now  then,  let  us  see.  These  papers 
contain  Mr,  Stebbing's  report.  I  have  only  glanced  my 
eye  over  it,  but  it  seems  like  every  other  report.  They 
have,  I  think,  a  stereotyped  formula  for  these  things. 
They  all  set  out  with  their  bit  of  geological  learning ;  but 
you  know,  Mr.  Cutbill,  far  better  than  I  can  tell  you,  you 
know  sandstone  doesn't  always  mean  coal?"^ 

"If  it  does  n't,  it  ought  to,"  said  Cutbill,  with  a  laugh, 
for  the  Avine  had  made  him  jolly,  and  familiar  besides. 

"There  are  many  things-  in  this  world  which  ought  to  be, 
but  which,  unhappily,  are  not,"  said  Bramleigh,  in  a  tone 
evidently  meant  to  be  'half-reproachful.  "And  as  I  have 
already  observed  to  you,  mere  geological  formation  is  not 
sufficient.     We  want  the  mineral,  sir;  we  want  the  fact." 

"There  you  have  it;  there  it  is  for  you,"  said  Cutbill, 
pointing  to  a  somewhat  bulky  parcel  in  brown  paper  in  the 
centre  of  the  table. 

"This  is  not  real  coal,  Mr.  Cutbill,"  said  Bramleigh,  as 
he  tore  open  the  covering,  and  exposed  a  black  misshapen 
lump.  "You  would  not  call  this  real  coal?" 
'  "I  'd  not  call  it  Swansea  nor  Cardiff,  Colonel,  any  more 
than  I  'd  say  the  claret  we  had  after  dinner  to-day  was 
'Mouton;'  but  still  I'd  call  each  of  them  very  good  in 
their  way." 

"I  return  you  my  thanks,  sir,  in  the  name  of  my  wine- 
merchant.  But  to  come  to  the  coal  question  —  what  could 
you  do  with  this  ?  " 

"What  could  I  do  with  it?     Scores  of  thinsrs  —  if  I  had 


88  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

only  enough  of  it.  Burn  it  in  grates  —  cook  with  it  — 
smelt  metals  with  it  —  burn  lime  with  it  —  drive  engines, 
not  locomotives,  but  stationaries,  with  it.  I  tell  you  what. 
Colonel  Bramleigh,"  said  he,  with  the  air  of  a  man  who 
was  asserting  what  he  would  not  sutfer  to  be  gainsaid. 
"It 's  coal  quite  enough  to  start  a  company  on;  coal  within 
the  meaning  of  the  act,  as  the  lawyers  would  say." 

"You  appear  to  have  rather  loose  notions  of  joint-stock 
enterprises,  Mr.  Cutbill,"  said  Bramleigh,  haughtily. 

"I  must  say.  Colonel,  they  do  not  invariably  inspire  me 
with  sentiments  of  absolute  veneration." 

"I  hope,  however,  you  feel,  sir,  that  in  any  enterprise  — 
in  any  undertaking  —  where  my  name  is  to  stand  forth, 
either  as  promoter  or  abetter,  that  the  world  is  to  see  in 
such  guarantee  the  assurance  of  solvency  and  stability." 

"That  is  precisely  what  made  me  think  of  you;  precisely 
what  led  me  to  say  to  Culduff,  'Bramleigh  is  the  man  to 
carry  the  scheme  out. '  " 

Now  the  familiarity  that  spoke  of  Culduff  thus  uncere-- 
moniously  in  great  part  reconciled  Bramleigh  to  hear  his 
own  name  treated  in  like  fashion,  all  the  more  that  it  was 
in  a  quotation;  but  still  he  winced  under  the  cool  imperti- 
nence of  the  man,  and  grieved  to  think  how  far  his  own 
priceless  wine  had  contributed  towards  it.  The  Colonel 
therefore  merely  bowed  his  acknowledgment  and  was 
silent. 

"I'll  be  frank  with  you,"  said  Cutbill,  emptying  the 
last  of  the  decanter  into  his  glass  as  he  spoke.  "I  '11 
be  frank  with  you.  We've  got  coal;  whether  it,  be  much 
or  little,  there  it  is.  As  to  quality,  as  I  said  before,  it 
is  n't  Cardiff.  It  won't  set  the  Thames  on  fire,  any  more 
than  the  noble  lord  that  owns  it ;  but  coal  it  is,  and  it  will 
burn  as  coal  —  and  yield  gas  as  coal  —  and  make  coke  as 
coal,  and  who  wants  more?  As  to  working  it  himself, 
Culduff  might  just  as  soon  pretend  he  'd  pay  the  National 
Debt.  He  is  over  head  and  ears  already;  he  has  been  in 
bondage  with  the  children  of  Israel  this  many  a  day,  and 
if  he  was  n't  a  peer  he  could  not  show;  but  that 's  neither 
here  nor  there.  To  set  the  concern  a-going  we  must  either 
have  a  loan  or  a  company.     I  'm  for  a  company." 


AN  EVENING  BELOW  AND   ABOVE   STAIRS.  89 

''You  are  for  a  company,"  reiterated  Bramleigh,  slowly, 
as  he  fixed  his  eyes  calmly  but  steadily  ou  him. 

"Yes,  I  'm  for  a  company.  With  a  compau}^,  Bramleigh," 
said  he,  as  he  tossed  off  the  last  glass  of  wiue,  "there  's 
always  more  of  P.   E." 

"Of  what?" 

"Of  P.  E.  — Preliminary  expenses!  There  's  a  commis- 
sion to  inquire  into  this,  and  a  deputation  to  investigate 
that.  No  men  on  earth  dine  like  deputations.  I  never 
knew  what  dining  was  till  I  was  named  on  a  deputation. 
It  was  on  sewerage.  And  didn't  the  champagne  flow! 
There  was  a  viaduct  to  be  constructed  to  lead  into  the 
Thames,  and  I  never  think  of  that  viaduct  without  the  taste 
of  turtle  in  my  mouth,  and  a  genial  feeling  of  milk-punch 
all  over  me.  The  assurance  offices  say  that  'there  was 
scarcely  such  a  thing  known  as  a  gout  premium  in  the  City 
till  the  joint-stock  companies  came  in ;  now  they  have  them 
every  day." 

^''  Revenons  a  nos  inoutons^  as  the  French  say,  Mr.  Cut- 
bill,"  said  Bramleigh,   gravely. 

"If  it 's  a  pun  you  mean,  and  that  we  're  to  have  anothei 
bottle  of  the  same,  I  second  the  motion." 

Bramleigh  gave  a  sickly  smile  as  he  rang  the  bell,  but 
neither  the  jest  nor  the  jester  much  pleased  him. 

"Bring  another  bottle  of  'Mouton,'  Drayton,  and  fresh 
glasses,"  said  he,   as  the  butler  appeared. 

"I'll  keep  mine;  it  is  warm  and  mellow,"  said  Cutbill. 
''The  only  fault  with  that  last  bottle  was  the  slight  chill  ou 
it." 

"You  have  been  frank  with  me,  Mr.  Cutbill,"  said  Bram- 
leigh, as  soon  as  the  servant  withdrew,  "  and  I  will  be  no 
less  so  with  you.  I  have  retired  from  the  world  of  busi- 
ness —  I  have  quitted  the  active  sphere  where  I  have  passed 
some  thirty  odd  years,  and  have  surrendered  ambition, 
either  of  money-making,  or  place,  or  rank,  and  come  over 
here  with  one  single  desire,  one  single  wish  —  I  want  to  see 
what's  to  be  done  for  Ireland." 

Cutbill  lifted  his  glass  to  his  lips,  but  scarcely  in  time  to 
hide  the  smile  of  incredulous  drollery  which  curled  them, 
and  which  the  other's  quick  glance  detected. 


90  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

"There  is  nothing  to  sneer  at,  sir,  in  what  I  said,  and  I 
will  repeat  my  words.  I  want  to  see  what 's  to  be  done  for 
Ireland." 

"It 's  very  laudable  in  you,  there  can  be  no  doubt,"  said 
Cutbill,   gravely. 

"I  am  well  aware  of  the  peril  incurred  by  addressing  to 
men  like  yourself,  Mr.  Cutbill,  any  opinions  —  any  senti- 
ments—  which  savor  of  disinterestedness,  or  —  or  —  " 

"Poetry,"  suggested  Cutbill. 

"No,  sir;  patriotism  was  the  word  I  sought  for.  And  it 
is  not  by  any  means  necessary  that  a  man  should  be  an 
Irishman  to  care  for  Ireland.  I  think,  sir,  there  is  nothing 
in  that  sentiment  at  least  which  will  move  your  ridicule." 

"Quite  the  reverse.  I  have  drunk  *  Prosperity  to  Ireland  ' 
at  public  dinners  for  twenty  years ;  and  in  very  good  liquor 
too,  occasionally." 

"I  am  happy  to  address  a  gentleman  so  graciously  dis- 
posed to  listen  to  me,"  said  Bramleigh,  whose  face  was 
now  crimson  with  anger.  "There  is  only  one  thing  more 
to  be  wished  for  —  that  he  would  join  some  amount  of  trust- 
fulness to  his  politeness;  with  that  he  would  be  perfect." 

"Here  goes,  then,  for  perfection,"  cried  Cutbill,  gayly. 
"I  'm  ready  from  this  time  to  believe  anything  you  tell 
me." 

"  Sir,  I  will  not  draw  largely  on  the  fund  you  so  gener- 
ously place  at  my  disposal.  I  will  simply  ask  you  to 
believe  me  a  man  of  honor." 

"Only  that?     No  more  than  that?  " 

"No  more,  I  pledge  you  my  word." 

"My  dear  Bramleigh,  your  return  for  the  income- tax  is 
enough  to  prove  that.  Nothing  short  of  high  integrity  ever 
possessed  as  good  a  fortune  as  yours." 

"You  are  speaking  of  my  fortune,  Mr.  Cutbill,  not  of  my 
character." 

"Ain't  they  the  same?  Ain't  they  one  and  the  same? 
Show  me  your  dividends,  and  I  will  show  you  your  dispo- 
sition—  that's  as  true  as  the  Bible." 

"I  will  not  follow  you  into  this  nice  inquiry.  I  will 
simply  return  to  where  I  started  from,  and  repeat,  I  want 
to  do  something  for  Ireland." 


AN  EVENING  BELOW   AND   ABOVE   STAIRS.  91 

"Do  it,  in  God's  name;  and  I  hope  you  '11  like  it  when 
it 's  done.  I  have  known  some  half-dozen  men  in  my  time 
who  had  the  same  sort  of  ambition.  One  of  them  tried  a 
cotton-mill  on  the  Liffey,  and  they  burned  him  down. 
Another  went  in  for  patent  fuel,  and  they  shot  his  steward. 
A  third  tried  Galway  marble,  and  they  shot  himself.  But 
after  all  there  's  more  honor  where  there  's  more  danger. 
What,  may  I  ask,   is  your  little  game  for  Ireland?" 

"I  begin  to  suspect  that  a  better  time  for  business,  Mr, 
Cutbill,  might  be  an  hour  after  breakfast.  Shall  we  adjourn 
till  to-morrow  morning  ?  " 

"  I  am  completely  at  your  orders.  For  my  own  part,  I 
never  felt  clearer  in  my  life  than  I  do  this  minute.  I  'm 
ready  to  go  into  coal  with  you:  from  the  time  of  sinking 
the  shaft  to  riddling  the  slack,  my  little  calculations  are  all 
made.  I  could  address  a  board  of  managing  directors  here 
as  I  sit;  and  say,  what  for  dividend,  what  for  repairs,  what 
for  a  reserved  fund,  and  what  for  the  small  robberies." 

The  unparalleled  coolness  of  the  man  had  now  pushed 
Bramleigh's  patience  to  its  last  limit;  but  a  latent  fear  of 
what  such  a  fellow  might  be  in  his  enmity,  restrained  him 
and  compelled  him  to  be  cautious. 

"What  sum  do  you  think  the  project  will  require,  Mr. 
Cutbill?" 

"I  think  about  eighty  thousand;  but  I'd  say  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  —  it's  always  more  respectable.  Small  in- 
vestments are  seldom  liked;  and  then  the  margin  —  the 
margin  is  broader." 

"Yes,  certainly;  the  margin  is  much  broader." 

"Fifty-pound  shares,  with  a  call  of  five  every  three 
months,  will  start  us.  The  chief  thing  is  to  begin  with  a 
large  hand."     Here  he  made  a  wide  sweep  of  his  arm. 

"For  coal  like  that  yonder,"  said  Bramleigh,  pointing  to 
the  specimen,  "you  'd  not  get  ten  shillings  the  ton." 

"Fifteen  —  fifteen.  I'd  make  it  the  test  of  a  man's 
patriotism  to  use  it.  I  'd  get  the  Viceroy  to  burn  it,  and 
the  Chief  Secretary,  and  the  Archbishop,  and  Father 
Cullen.  I  'd  heat  St.  Patrick's  with  it,  and  the  national 
schools.  There  could  be  no  disguise  about  it ;  like  the  na- 
tive whiskey,  it  would  be  known  by  the  smell  of  the  smoke." 


92  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"You  have  drawn  up  some  sort  of  prospectus?" 
"Some  sort  of  prospectus!  I  think  1  have.  There's  a 
document  there  on  the  table  might  go  before  the  House  of 
Commons  this  minute ;  and  the  short  and  the  long  of  it  is, 
Bramleigh  "  —  here  he  crossed  his  arms  on  the  table,  and 
dropped  his  voice  to  a  tone  of  great  confidence  —  "it  is  a 
good  thing  —  a  right  good  thing.  There  's  coal  there,  of 
one  kind  or  other,  for  five-and-twenty  years,  perhaps  more. 
The  real,  I  may  say,  the  only  difficulty  of  the  whole  scheme 
w^ill  be  to  keep  old  Culduff  from  running  off  with  all  the 
profits.  As  soon  as  the  money  comes  rolling  in,  he  '11  set 
off  shelling  it  out;  he's  just  as  wasteful  as  he  was  thirty 
rs   ago." 

That  will  be  impossible  when  a  company  is  once  regu- 
larly formed." 

"1  know  that,  —I  know  that;  but  men  of  his  stamp  say, 
*We  know  nothing  about  trade.  We  have  n't  been  bred  up 
to  oflace-stools  and  big  ledgers ;  and  when  we  want  money, 
we  get  it  how  we  can.'  " 

"We  can't  prevent  him  selling  out  or  mortgaging  his 
shares.  You  mean,  in  short,  that  he  should  not  be  on  the 
direction  ?  "  added  he. 

"That's  it,  —that 's  exactly  it,"  said  Cutbill,  joyously. 
"Will  he  like  that?  Will  he  submit  to  it?  " 
"He  '11  like  whatever  promises  to  put  him  most  speedily 
into  funds;  he'll  submit  to  whatever  threatens  to  stop  the 
supplies.  Don't  you  know  these  men  better  than  I  do,  who 
pass  lives  of  absenteeism  from  their  country;  how  little 
they  care  how  or  whence  money  comes,  provided  they  get 
it?  They  neither  know,  nor  want  to  know,  about  good  or 
bad  seasons,  whether  harvests  are  fine,  or  trade  profitable ; 
their  one  question  is,  'Can  you  answer  my  draft  at  thirty- 
one  days  ? '  " 

"Ah,  yes;  there  is  too  much,  far  too  much,  of  what  you 
say  in  the  world,"  said  Bramleigh,  sighing. 

"These  are  not  the  men  who  want  to  do  something  for 
Ireland,"  said  the  other,  quizzically. 

"Sir,  it  may  save  us  both  some  time  and  temper  if  I  tell 
you  I  have  never  been  'chaffed.'" 

"That  sounds  to  me  like  a  man  saying,  I  have  never 


AN  EVENING   BELOW  AND   ABOVE   STAIRS.  93 

been  out  in  the  rain;  but  as  it  is  so,  there  's  no  more  to  be 
said." 

"Nothing,  sir.     Positively  nothing  on  that  head." 

"Nor  indeed  on  any  other.  Men  in  my  line  of  life 
could  n't  get  on  without  it.  Chaff  lubricates  business  just 
the  way  grease  oils  machinery.  There  would  be  too  much 
friction  in  life  without  chaff,  Bramleigh." 

"  I  look  upon  it  as  directly  the  opposite.  I  regard  it  as 
I  would  a  pebble  getting  amongst  the  wheels,  and  causing 
jar  and  disturbance,   sir." 

"Well,  then,"  said  Cutbill,  emptying  the  last  drop  into 
his  glass,  "  I  take  it  I  need  not  go  over  all  the  details  you 
will  find  in  those  papers.  There  are  plans,  and  specifica- 
tions, and  estimates,  and  computations,  showing  what  we 
mean  to  do,  and  how;  and  as  I  really  could  add  nothing  to 
the  report,  I  suppose  I  may  wish  you  a  good  night." 

"  I  am  very  sorry,  Mr.  Cutbill,  if  my  inability  to  be  jocu- 
lar should  deprive  me  of  the  pleasure  of  your  society ;  but 
there  are  still  many  points  on  which  I  desire  to  be 
informed." 

"It 's  all  there.  If  you  were  to  bray  me  in  a  mortar  j^ou 
could  n't  get  more  out  of  me  than  you  '11  find  in  those 
papers;  and  whether  it 's  the  heat  of  the  room,  or  the  wine, 
or  the  subject,  but  I  am  awfully  sleepy,"  and  he  backed 
this  assurance  with  a  hearty  yawn. 

"Well,  sir,  I  must  submit  to  your  dictation.  I  will  try 
and  master  these  details  before  I  go  to  bed,  and  will  take 
some  favorable  moment  to-morrow  to  talk  them  over." 

"That's  said  like  a  sensible  man,"  said  Cutbill,  clapping 
him  familiarly  on  the  shoulder,  and  steadying  himself  the 
while;  for  as  he  stood  up  to  go,  he  found  that  the  wine  had 
been  stronger  than  he  suspected.  "AVhen  we  see  a  little 
more  of  each  other,"  said  he,  in  the  oracular  tone  of  a  man 
who  had  drunk  too  much;  "when  we  see  a  little  more  of 
each  other,  we  '11  get  on  famously.  You  know  the  world, 
and  I  know  the  world.  You  have  had  your  dealings  with 
men,  and  I  have  had  my  dealings  with  men,  and  we  know 
what's  what.     Ain't  I  right,   Bramleigh?" 

"I  have  no  doubt  there  is  much  truth  in  what  you  say." 

"Truth,  truth,   it's  true   as   gospel!     There's   only  one 


94  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

thing,  however,  to  be  settled  between  us.  Each  must  make 
his  little  concession  with  reci-procity  —  reci-procity,  ain't 
it?" 

"Quite  so;  but  I  don't  see  your  meaning." 

"Here  it  is,  then,  Bramleigh;  here's  what  I  mean.  If 
we  're  to  march  together  we  must  start  fair.  No  man  is  to 
have  more  baggage  than  his  neighbor.  If  I  'm  to  give  up 
chaff,  do  you  see,  you  must  give  up  humbug.  If  I  'm  not 
to  have  my  bit  of  fun,  old  boy,  you  're  not  to  come  over 
me  about  doing  something  for  Ireland,  that's  all,"  and  with 
this  he  lounged  out,  banging  the  door  after  him  as  he  went. 

Mr.  Cutbill,  as  he  went  to  his  room,  had  a  certain  vague 
suspicion  that  he  had  drunk  more  wine  than  w^as  strictly 
necessary,  and  that  the  liquor  was  not  impossibly  stronger 
than  he  had  suspected.  He  felt,  too,  in  the  same  vague 
way,  that  there  had  been  a  passage  of  arms  between  his 
host  and  himself;  but  as  to  what  it  was  about,  and  who 
was  the  victor,  he  had  not  the  shadow  of  a  conception. 

Neither  did  his  ordinary  remedy  of  pouring  the  contents 
of  his  water-jug  over  his  head  aid  him  on  this  occasion. 

"I'm  not  a  bit  sleepy;  nonsense!  "  muttered  he,  "so  I  '11 
go  and  see  what  they  are  doing  in  the  smoking-room." 

Here  he  found  the  three  young  men  of  the  house  in  that 
semi-thoughtful  dreariness  which  is  supposed  to  be  the 
captivation  of  tobacco;  as  if  the  mass  of  young  English- 
men needed  anything  to  deepen  the  habitual  gloom  of  their 
natures,  or  thicken  the  sluggish  apathy  that  follows  them 
into  all  inactivity. 

"How  jolly,"  cried  Cutbill,  as  he  entered.  "I  '11  be  shot 
if  I  believed  as  I  came  up  the  stairs  that  there  was  any  one 
here.     You  haven't  even  got  brandy  and  seltzer." 

"If  you  touch  that  bell,  they  '11  bring  it,"  said  Augustus, 
languidly. 

"Some  Moselle  for  me,"  said  Temple,  as  the  servant 
entered. 

"I'm  glad  you've  come,  Cutty,"  cried  Jack;  "as  old 
Kemp  used  to  say,  anything  is  better  than  a  dead  calm; 
even  a  mutiny." 

"What  an  infernal  old  hurdy-gurdy!  Why  haven't  you 
a  decent  piano  here,  if  you  have  one  at  all  ?  "  said  Cutbill, 


AN  EVENING  BELOW  AND  ABOVE   STAIRS.  95 

as  he  ran  his  hands  over  the  keys  of  a  discordant  old  in- 
strument that  actually  shook  on  its  legs  as  he  struck  the 
chords. 

"I  suspect  it  was  mere  accident  brought  it  here,"  said 
Augustus.  "  It  was  invalided  out  of  the  girls'  schoolroom, 
and  sent  up  here  to  be  got  rid  of." 

"Sing  us  something,  Cutty,"  said  Jack;  "it  will  be  a 
real  boon  at  this  moment." 

"I'll  sing  like  a  grove  of  nightingales  for  you,  when  I 
have  wet  my  lips;  but  I  am  parched  in  the  mouth,  like  a 
Cape  parrot.  I  've  had  two  hours  of  your  governor  below 
stairs.     Very  dry  work,   I  promise  you." 

"Did  he  offer  you  nothing  to  drink?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  Yes,  we  had  two  bottles  of  very  tidy  claret.  He  called 
it  'Mouton.'" 

"By  Jove!"  said  Augustus,  "you  must  have  been  high 
in  the  governor's  favor  to  be  treated  to  his  'Bra  Mouton.'  " 

"We  had  a  round  with  the  gloves,  nevertheless,"  said 
Cutbill,  "and  exchanged  some  ugly  blows.  I  don't  exactly 
know  about  what  or  how  it  began,  or  even  how  it  ended; 
but  I  know  there  was  a  black  eye  somewhere.  He  's  pas- 
sionate, rather." 

"He  has  the  spirit  that  should  animate  every  gentleman," 
said  Temple. 

"That's  exactly  what  /  have.  I'll  stand  anything,  I 
don't  care  what,  if  it  be  fun.  Say  it 's  a  'joke,'  and  you  '11 
never  see  me  show  bad  temper;  but  if  any  fellow  tries  it  on 
with  me  because  he  fancies  himself  a  swell,  or  has^  handle 
to  his  name,  he  '11  soon  discover  his  mistake.  Old  Culduff 
began  that  way.  You  'd  laugh  if  you  saw  how  he  floundered 
out  of  the  swamp  afterwards." 

"Tell  us  about  it,  Cutty,"  said  Jack,  encouragingly. 

"I  beg  to  say  I  should  prefer  not  hearing  anything 
which  might,  even  by  inference,  reflect  on  a  person  holding 
Lord  Culduff 's  position  in  my  profession,"  said  Temple, 
haughtily. 

"  Is  that  the  quarter  the  wind  's  in?  "  asked  Cutbill,  with 
a  not  very  sober  expression  in  his  face. 

"  Sing  us  a  song.  Cutty.  It  will  be  better  than  all  this 
sparring,"  said  Jack. 


96  THE  BKAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"What  shall  it  be?"  said  Cutbill,  seating  himself  at  the 
piano,  and  running  over  the  keys  with  no  small  skill. 
"Shall  I  describe  my  journey  to  Ireland?" 

"By  all  means  let 's  hear  it,"  said  Augustus. 

"  I  forget  how  it  goes.  Indeed,  some  verses  I  was  mak- 
ing on  the  curate's  sister  have  driven  the  others  out  of  my 
head." 

Jack  drew  nigh,  and  leaning  over  his  shoulder,  whis- 
pered something  in  his  ear. 

"What!  "  cried  Cutbill,  starting  up;  "he  says  he  '11  pitch 
me  neck  and  crop  out  of  the  window." 

"Not  unless  you  deserve  it  —  add  that,"  said  Jack, 
sternly. 

"  I  must  have  an  apology  for  those  words,  sir.  I  shall 
insist  on  your  recalling  them,  and  expressing  your  sincere 
regret  for  having  ever  used  them." 

"So  you  shall.  Cutty.  I  completely  forgot  that  this 
tower  was  ninety  feet  high;  but  I  '11  pitch  you  downstairs, 
which  will  do  as  well." 

There  was  a  terrible  gleam  of  earnestness  in  Jack's  eye 
as  he  spoke  this  laughingly,  which  appalled  Cutbill  far 
more  than  any  bluster,  and  he  stammered  out,  "  Let  us  have 
no  practical  jokes;  they're  bad  taste.  You'd  be  a  great 
fool,  admiral "  —  this  w^as  a  familiarity  he  occasionally 
used  with  Jack  —  "you'd  be  a  great  fool  to  quarrel  with 
me.  I  can  do  more  with  the  fellows  at  Somerset  House 
than  most  men  going;  and  when  the  day  comes  that  they  '11 
give  you  a  command,  and  you  '11  want  twelve  or  fifteen  hun- 
dred to  set  you  afloat,  Tom  Cutbill  is  not  the  worst  man  to 
know  in  the  City.  Not  to  say,  that  if  things  go  right  down 
here,  I  could  help  you  to  something  very  snug  in  our  mine. 
Won't  we  come  out  strong  then,   eh?" 

Here  he  rattled  over  the  keys  once  more;  and  after  hum- 
ming to  himself  for  a  second  or  two,  burst  out  with  a  rat- 
tling merry  air,   to  which  he  sung,  — 

"  With  crests  on  our  harness  and  breechin, 
In  a  carriage  and  four  we  shall  roll, 
With  a  splendid  French  cook  in  the  kitchen. 
If  we  only  succeed  to  find  coal, 

Coal ! 
If  we  only  are  sure  to  find  coal." 


AN  EVENING  BELOW   AND   ABOVE   STAIRS.  97 

"  A  barcarolle,  I  declare,"  said  Lord  Culduff,  entering. 
"It  was  a  good  inspiration  led  me  up  here." 

A  jolly  roar  of  laughter  at  his  mistake  welcomed  him ; 
and  Cutty,  with  an  aside,  cried  out,  "He  's  deaf  as  a  post," 
and  continued,  — 

"  If  we  marry,  we  '11  marry  a  beauty, 
If  single  we  '11  try  and  control 
Our  tastes  within  limits  of  duty, 
And  make  ourselves  jolly  with  coal, 
Coal ! 
And  make  ourselves  jolly  with  coal. 

**  They  may  talk  of  the  mines  of  Golcondar, 
Or  the  shafts  of  Puebla  del  Sol ; 
But  to  fill  a  man's  pocket,  I  wonder 
If  there  's  anything  equal  to  coal, 

Coal! 
If  there  's  anything  equal  to  coal. 

**  At  Naples  we  '11  live  on  the  Chiaja, 

With  our  schooner-yacht  close  to  the  Mole, 
And  make  daily  picknickings  to  Baja, 
If  we  only  come  down  upon  coal, 

Coal ! 
If  we  only  come  down  upon  coal." 

"One  of  the  fishermen's  songs,"  said  Lord  Culduff,  as  he 
beat  time  on  the  table.  "  I  've  passed  many  a  night  on  the 
Bay  of  Naples  listening  to  them." 

And  a  wild  tumultuous  laugh  now  convulsed  the  com- 
pany, and  Cutbill,  himself  overwhelmed  by  the  absurdity, 
rushed  to  the  door,  and  made  his  escape  without  waiting 
for  more. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

AT    THE    COTTAGE. 

Julia  L'Estrange  was  busily  engaged  in  arranging  some 
flowers  in  certain  vases  in  her  little  drawing-room,  and,  with 
a  taste  all  her  own,  draping  a  small  hanging  lamp  with 
creepers,  when  Jack  Bramleigh  appeared  at  the  open  win- 
dow, and  leaning  on  the  sill,  cried  out,   ''  Good-morning." 

"  I  came  over  to  scold  you,  Julia,"  said  he.  ''  It  was 
very  cruel  of  you  to  desert. us  last  evening,  and  we  had  a 
most  dreary  time  of  it  in  consequence." 

''Come  round  and  hold  this  chair  for  me,  and  don't  talk 
nonsense." 

"  And  what  are  all  these  fine  preparations  for?  You  are 
decking  out  your  room  as  if  for  a  village  fete,"  said  he,  not 
moving  from  his  place  nor  heeding  her  request. 

"  I  fancy  that  young  Frenchman  who  was  here  last  night," 
said  she,  saucily,  "would  have  responded  to  my  invitation 
if  I  had  asked  him  to  hold  the  chair  I  was  standing  on." 

"I've  no  doubt  of  it,"  said  he,  gravely.  "Frenchmen 
are  vastly  more  gallant  than  we  are." 

"Do  you  know,  Jack,"  said  she  again,  "he  is  most 
amusing?  " 

"  Very  probably." 

"And  has  such  a  perfect  accent;  that  sort  of  purring 
French  one  only  hears  from  a  Parisian?  " 

"  I  am  charmed  to  hear  it." 

"It  charmed  me  to  hear  it,  I  assure  you.  One  does  so 
long  for  the  sounds  that  recall  bright  scenes  and  pleasant 
people  :  one  has  such  a  zest  for  the  most  commonplace  things 
that  bring  back  the  memory  of  very  happy  days." 

"  What  a  lucky  Frenchman  to  do  all  this !  " 


AT  THE   COTTAGE.  99 

"  What  a  lucky  Irish  girl  to  have  met  with  him !  "  said 
she,  gayly. 

''  And  how  did  you  come  to  know  him,  may  I  ask?  " 

*'  George  had  been  several  times  over  to  inquire  after  him, 
and  out  of  gratitude  Count  Pracontal,  —  I  am  not  sure  that 
he  is  count  though,  but  it  is  of  no  moment, —  made  it  a  point 
to  come  here  the  first  day  he  was  able  to  drive  out.  Mr. 
Longworth  drove  him  over  in  his  pony  carriage,  and  George 
was  so  pleased  with  them  both  that  he  asked  them  to  tea 
last  evening,  and  they  dine  here  to-day." 

''  Hence  these  decorations?  " 

"Precisely." 

' '  What  a  brilliant  neighborhood  we  have  !  And  there  are 
people  will  tell  you  that  this  is  all  barbarism  here." 

"  Come  over  this  evening,  Jack,  and  hear  M.  Pracontal 
sing  —  he  has  a  delicious  tenor  voice  —  and  you  '11  never 
believe  in  that  story  of  barbarism  again.  We  had  quite  a 
little  '  salon '  last  night." 

"  I  must  take  your  word  for  his  attractive  qualities,"  said 
Jack,  as  his  brow  contracted  and  his  face  grew  darker.  "  I 
thought  your  brother  rather  stood  aloof  from  Mr.  Long- 
worth.  I  was  scarcely  prepared  to  hear  of  his  inviting  him 
here." 

"  So  he  did ;  but  he  found  him  so  different  from  what  he 
expected  —  so  quiet,  so  well-bred,  that  George,  who  always 
is  in  a  hurry  to  make  an  '  amende  '  when  he  thinks  he  has 
wronged  any  one,  actually  rushed  into  acquaintance  with 
him  at  once." 

"And  his  sister  Julia,"  asked  Jack,  with  a  look  of 
impertinent  irony,  "was  she,  too,  as  impulsive  in  her 
friendship?" 

"  I  think  pretty  much  the  same." 

"  It  must  have  been  a  charming  party." 

"  I  flatter  myself  it  was.  They  stayed  till  midnight;  and 
M.  Pracontal  declared  he'd  break  his  other  leg  to-morrow 
if  it  would  ensure  him  another  such  evening  in  his  conva- 
lescence." 

"Fulsome  rascal!  I  protest  it  lowers  my  opinion  of 
women  altogether  when  I  think  these  are  the  fellows  that 
always  meet  their  favor." 


100  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"Women  would  be  very  ungrateful  if  they  did  not  like 
the  people  who  try  to  please  them.  Now,  certainly,  as  a 
rule,  Jack,  you  will  admit  foreigners  are  somewhat  more 
eager  about  this  than  you  gentlemen  of  England." 

"  I  have  about  as  much  of  this  as  I  am  likely  to  bear  well 
from  my  distinguished  stepmother,"  said  he,  roughly,  "  so 
don't  push  my  patience  further." 

"  What  do  you  say  to  our  little  '  salon  '  now?  "  said  she. 
"  Have  you  ever  seen  ferns  and  variegated  ivy  disposed 
more  tastefully  ?  " 

"  I  wish —  I  wish"  —  stammered  he  out,  and  then  seemed 
unable  to  go  on. 

"  And  what  do  you  wish?  " 

"I  suppose  I  must  not  say  it.  You  might  feel  offended 
besides." 

"  Not  a  bit.  Jack.  I  am  sure  it  never  could  be  your 
intention  to  offend  me,  and  a  mere  blunder  could  not  do 
so." 

"  Well,  I  '11  go  round  and  tell  you  what  it  is  I  wish,"  and 
with  this  he  entered  the  house  and  passed  on  into  the  draw- 
ing-room, and  taking  his  place  at  one  side  of  the  fire,  while 
she  stood  at  the  other,  said  seriously,  "  I  was  wishing,  Julia, 
that  you  were  less  of  a  coquette." 

"You  don't  mean  that?"  said  she,  roguishly,  dropping 
her  long  eyelashes,  as  she  looked  down  immediately  after. 

"I  mean  it  seriously,  Julia.  It  is  your  one  fault;  but  it 
is  an  immense  one." 

"  My  dear  Jack,"  said  she,  very  gravely,  "you  men  are 
such  churls  that  you  are  never  grateful  for  any  attempts  to 
please  you  except  they  be  limited  strictly  to  yourselves. 
You  would  never  have  dared  to  call  any  little  devices,  by 
which  I  sought  to  amuse  or  interest  you,  coquetry,  so  long 
as  they  were  only  employed  on  your  own  behalf.  My  real 
offence  is  that  I  thought  the  world  consisted  of  you  and 
some  others." 

"  I  am  not  your  match  in  these  sort  of  subtle  discussions," 
said  he,  bluntly,  "  but  I  know  what  I  say  is  fact." 

"  That  I  'm  a  coquette?  "  said  she,  with  so  much  feigned 
horror  that  Jack  could  scarcely  keep  down  the  temptation 
to  laugh. 


UJMfVERSlTY 

OF 


AT  THE   COTTAGE.  101 

"  Just  SO ;  for  the  mere  pleasure  of  displaying  some  grace 
or  some  attraction,  you  'd  half  kill  a  fellow  with  jealousy,  or 
drive  him  clean  mad  with  uncertainty.  You  insist  on  ad- 
miration —  or  what  you  call  '  homage,'  which  I  trust  is  only 
a  French  name  for  it  —  and  what 's  the  end  of  it  all?  You 
get  plenty  of  this  same  homage;  but  —  but  —  never  mind. 
I  suppose  I  'm  a  fool  to  talk  this  way.  You  're  laughing  at 
me  besides,  all  this  while.     I  see  it  —  I  see  it  in  your  eyes." 

"I  wasn't  laughing.  Jack,  I  assure  you.  I  was  simply 
thinking  that  this  discovery  —  I  mean  of  my  coquetry  — 
was  n't  yours  at  all.  Come,  be  frank  and  own  it.  Who 
told  you  I  was  a  coquette.  Jack?" 

"  You  regard  me  as  too  dull-witted  to  have  found  it  out, 
do  you  ?  " 

"  No,  Jack.  Too  honest-hearted  —  too  unsuspecting,  too 
generous,  to  put  an  ill  construction  where  a  better  one  would 
do  as  well." 

"  If  you  mean  that  there  are  others  who  agree  with  me, 
you  're  quite  right." 

"  And  who  may  they  be?  "  asked  she,  with  a  quiet  smile. 
*'Come,  I  have  a  right  to  know." 

"  I  don't  see  the  right." 

*'  Certainly  I  have.  It  would  be  very  ungenerous  and 
very  unjust  to  let  me  continue  to  exercise  all  those  pleasing 
devices  you  have  just  stigmatized  for  the  delectation  of 
people  who  condemn  them." 

"  Oh,  you  could  n't  help  that.  You'd  do  it  just  to  amuse 
yourself,  as  I  'm  sure  was  the  case  yesterday,  when  you  put 
forth  all  your  captivations  for  that  stupid  old  Viscount." 

''Did  I?" 
'  "  Did  you?     You  have  the  face  to  ask  it? " 

"  I  have.  Jack.  I  have  courage  for  even  more,  for  I  will 
ask  you,  was  it  not  Marion  said  this?  Was  it  not  Marion 
who  was  so  severe  on  all  my  little  gracefulnesses  ?  Well,  you 
need  not  answer  if  you  don't  like.  I  '11  not  press  my  ques- 
tion ;  but  own,  it  is  not  fair  for  Marion,  with  every  advan- 
tage, her  beauty  and  her  surroundings  —  " 

"Her  what?" 

"Well,  I  would  not  use  a  French  word;  but  I  meant  to 
say,  those  accessories  which  are  represented  by  dress,  and 


102  THE   BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

'  toilette  '  —  not  mean  things  in  female  estimation.  With  all 
these,  why  not  have  a  little  mercy  for  the  poor  curate's  sister, 
reduced  to  enter  the  lists  with  very  uncouth  weapons  ?  " 

"You   won't    deny   that    Ellen    loves    you?"    said    he, 
suddenly. 

''  I  'd  be  sorry,  very  sorry,  to  doubt  it ;  but  she  never  said 
I  was  a  coquette  ?  " 

"  I  'm  sure  she  knows  you  are,"  said  he,  doggedly. 
''  Oh,  Jack,  I  hope  this  is  not  the  way  you  try  people  on 
court-martial  ?  " 

"  It 's  the  fairest  way  ever  a  fellow  was  tried  ;  and  if  one 
doesn't  feel  him  guilty  he  'd  never  condemn  him." 

"  I  'd  rather  people  would  feel  less,  and  think  a  little  more, 
if  I  was  to  be  '  the  accused,' "  said  she,  half  pettishly. 

"You  got  that.  Master  Jack;  that  round  shot  was  for 
yow,"  said  he,  not  without  some  irritation  in  his  tone. 

"Well,"  said  she,  good-humoredly,  "I  believe  we  are 
firing  into  each  other  this  morning,  and  I  declare  I  cannot 
see  for  what." 

"I'll  tell  you,  Julia.  You  grew  very  cross  with  me, 
because  I  accused  you  of  being  a  coquette,  a  charge  you  'd 
have  thought  pretty  lightly  of  if  you  had  n't  known  it  was 
deserved." 

"  Might  there  not  have  been  another  reason  for  the  cross- 
ness, supposing  it  to  have  existed?  "  said  she,  quietly. 

"I  cannot  imagine  one;  at  least,  I  can't  imagine  what 
reason  you  point  at." 

"  Simply  this,"  said  she,  half  carelessly,  "  that  it  could 
have  been  no  part  of  your  duty  to  have  told  me  so." 

"  You  mean  that  it  was  a  great  liberty  on  my  part —  an 
unwarrantable  liberty  ?  " 
"  Something  like  it." 

"That  the  terms  which  existed  between  us"— and  now 
he  spoke  with  a  tremulous  voice,  and  a  look  of  much  agita- 
tion —  ' '  could  not  have  warranted  my  daring  to  point  out  a 
fault,  even  in  your  manner ;  for  I  am  sure,  after  all,  your 
nature  had  nothing  to  do  with  it?" 
She  nodded,  and  was  silent. 

"  That 's  pretty  plain,  anyhow,"  said  he,  moving  towards 
the  table,  where  he  had  placed  his  hat.     "  It 's  a  sharp  lesson 


AT  THE   COTTAGE.  103 


to  give  a  fellow  though,  all  the  more  when  he  was  unpre- 
pared for  it." 

"  You  forget  that  the  first  sharp  lesson  came  from 
you.'" 

"All  true;  there's  no  denying  it."  He  took  up  his  hat 
as  she  spoke,  and  moved,  half  awkwardly,  towards  the 
window.  "  I  had  a  message  for  you  from  the  girls,  if  I 
could  only  remember  it.  Do  you  happen  to  guess  what  it 
was  about?" 

She  shrugged  her  shoulders  slightly  as  a  negative,  and  was 
silent. 

"I'll  be  shot  if  I  can  think  what  it  was,"  muttered  he; 
"  the  chances  are,  however,  it  was  to  ask  you  to  do  some- 
thing or  other,  and  as,  in  your  present  temper,  that  would 
be  hopeless,  it  matters  little  that  I  have  forgotten  it." 

She  made  no  answer  to  this  speech,  but  quietly  occupied 
herself  arranging  a  braid  of  her  hair  that  had  just  fallen 
down. 

"  Miss  L'Estrange !  "  said  he,  in  a  haughty  and  somewhat 
bold  tone. 

"Mr.  Bramleigh,"  replied  she,  turning  and  facing  him 
with  perfect  gravity,  though  her  tremulous  lip  and  sparkling 
eye  showed  what  the  effort  to  seem  serious  cost  her. 

"If  you  will  condescend  to  be  real,  to  be  natural,  for 
about  a  minute  and  a  half,  it  may  save  us,  or  at  least  one 
of  us,  a  world  of  trouble  and  unhappiness." 

"It's  not  a  very  courteous  supposition  of  yours  that 
implies  I  am  unreal  or  unnatural,"  said  she,  calmly;  "but 
no  matter,  go  on ;  say  what  you  desire  to  say,  and  you  shall 
find  me  pretty  attentive." 

"What  I  want  to  say  is  this,  then,"  said  he,  approaching 
where  she  stood,  and  leaning  one  arm  on  the  chimney  close 
to  where  her  own  arm  was  resting ;  "I  wanted  to  tell —  no, 
I  wanted  to  ask  you  if  the  old  relations  between  us  are  to 
be  considered  as  bygone,  —  if  I  am  to  go  away  from  this 
to-day  believing  that  all  I  have  ever  said  to  you,  all  that  you 
heard  —  for  you  did  hear  me,  Julia  —  " 

"Julia!"  repeated  she,  in  mock  amazement.  "What 
liberty  is  this,  sir?"  and  she  almost  laughed  out  as  she 
spoke. 


104  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  I  knew  well  how  it  would  be,"  said  be,  angrily.  "  There 
is  a  heartless  levity  in  your  nature  that  nothing  represses.  I 
asked  you  to  be  serious  for  one  brief  instant." 

"And  you  shall  find  that  I  can,"  said  she,  quickly.  "  If 
I  have  not  been  more  so  hitherto,  it  has  been  in  mercy  to 
yourself." 

"  In  mercy  to  me?     To  me  !     What  do  you  mean?  " 

"  Simply  this.  You  came  here  to  give  me  a  lesson  this 
morning.  But  it  was  at  3^our  sister's  suggestion.  It  was 
her  criticism  that  prompted  you  to  the  task.  I  read  it  all. 
I  saw  how  ill  prepared  you  were.  You  have  mistaken  some 
things,  forgotten  others ;  and,  in  fact,  you  showed  me  that 
you  were  far  more  anxious  I  should  exculpate  myself  than 
that  you  yourself  should  be  the  victor.  It  was  for  this 
reason  that  I  was  really  annoyed,  —  seriously  annoyed,  at 
what  you  said  to  me ;  and  I  called  in  what  you  are  so  polite 
as  to  style  my  '  levity '  to  help  me  through  my  difficulty. 
Now,  however,  you  have  made  me  serious  enough ;  and  it  is 
in  this  mood  I  say.  Don't  charge  yourself  another  time  with 
such  a  mission.  Reprove  whatever  you  like,  but  let  it  come 
from  yourself.  Don't  think  light-hearteduess  —  I  '11  not  say 
levity  —  bad  in  morals,  because  it  may  be  bad  in  taste. 
There  's  a  lesson  for  you,  sir."  And  she  held  out  her  hand 
as  if  in  reconciliation. 

"  But  you  have  n't  answered  my  question,  Julia,"  said  he, 
tremulously. 

"  And  what  was  3'our  question?  " 

"I  asked  you  if  the  past  —  if  all  that  had  taken  place 
between  us  —  was  to  be  now  forgotten  ?  " 

"  I  declare  here  is  George,"  said  she,  bounding  towards 
the  window  and  opening  it.  "  What  a  splendid  fish,  George  ! 
Did  you  take  it  yourself?  " 

''Yes,  and  he  cost  me  the  top  joint  of  my  rod;  and  I'd 
have  lost  him  after  all  if  Lafferty  had  not  waded  out  and 
landed  him.  I  'm  between  two  minds,  Julia,  whether  I  '11 
send  him  up  to  the  Bramleighs.  " 

She  put  her  finger  to  her  lip  to  impose  caution,  and  said, 
*'  The  admiral,"  —  the  nickname  by  which  Jack  was  known 
—  "is  here." 

"All  right,"  replied  L'Estrange.     "We'll  try  and  keep 


AT  THE   COTTAGE.  105 

him  for  dinner,  and  eat  the  fish  at  home."     He  entered  as  he 
spoke.     "  Where  's  Jack.     Did  n't  you  say  he  was  here?  " 

"  So  he  was  when  I  spoke.  He  must  have  slipped  away 
without  my  seeing  it.     He  is  really  gone." 

"I  hear  he  is  gazetted;  appointed  to  some  ship  on  a 
foreign  station.     Did  he  tell  you  of  it?" 

"Not  a  word.  Indeed,  he  had  little  time,  for  we  did 
nothing  but  squabble  since  he  came  in." 

"  It  was  Harding  told  me.  He  said  that  Jack  did  not 
seem  overjoyed  at  his  good  luck ;  and  declared  that  he  was 
not  quite  sure  he  would  accept  it." 

"  Indeed,"  said  she,  thoughtfully. 

"  That's  not  the  only  news.  Colonel  Bramleigh  was  sum- 
moned to  town  by  a  telegram  this  morning,  but  what  about 
I  did  n't  hear.  If  Harding  knew  —  and  I  'm  not  sure  that 
he  did  —  he  was  too  discreet  to  tell.  But  I  am  not  at  the 
end  of  my  tidings.  It  seems  they  have  discovered  coal  on 
Lord  Culduff's  estate,  and  a  great  share  company  is  going  to 
be  formed,  and  untold  wealth  to  be  distributed  amongst  the 
subscribers." 

' '  I  wonder  why  Jack  did  not  tell  me  he  was  going  away  ?  " 
said  she. 

"  Perhaps  he  does  not  intend  to  go;  perhaps  the  Colonel 
has  gone  up  to  try  and  get  something  better  for  him ; 
perhaps  —  " 

"  Any  perhaps  will  do,  George,"  said  she,  like  one  willing 
to  change  the  theme.  "  What  do  you  say  to  my  decora- 
tions? Have  you  no  compliments  to  make  me  on  my  ex- 
quisite taste?  " 

"  Harding  certainly  thinks  well  of  it,"  said  he,  not  heed- 
ing her  question. 

"  Thinks  well  of  what,  George?  " 

"  He  's  a  shrewd  fellow,"  continued  he  ;  "  and  if  he  deems 
the  investment  good  enough  to  venture  his  own  money  in,  I 
suspect,  Ju,  we  might  risk  ours." 

"I  wish  you  would  tell  me  what  you  are  talking  about; 
for  all  this  is  a  perfect  riddle  to  me." 

*'It's  about  vesting  3^our  two  thousand  pounds,  Julia, 
which  now  return  about  seventy  pounds  a  year,  in  the  coal 
speculation.     That 's  what  I  am  thinking  of.    Harding  says. 


106  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

that  taking  a  very  low  estimate  of  the  success,  there  ought 
to  be  a  profit  on  the  shares  of  fifteen  per  cent.  In  fact, 
he  said  he  wouldn't  go  into  it  himself  for  less." 

"  Why,  George,  why  did  he  say  this?  Is  there  anything 
wrong  or  immoral  about  coal?" 

"Try  and  be  serious  for  one  moment,  Ju,"  said  he,  with 
a  slight  touch  of  irritation  in  his  voice.  "  What  Harding 
evidently  meant  was,  that  a  speculative  enterprise  was  not 
to  be  deemed  good  if  it  yielded  less.  These  shrewd  men, 
I  believe,  never  lay  out  their  money  without  large 
profit." 

"  And,  my  dear  George,  why  come  and  consult  me  about 
these  things?  Can  you  imagine  more  hopeless  ignorance 
than  mine  must  be  on  all  such  questions?" 

"  You  can  understand  that  a  sum  of  money  yielding  three 
hundred  a  year  is  more  profitably  employed  than  when  it 
only  returned  seventy." 

"  Yes  ;  I  think  my  intelligence  can  rise  to  that  height." 

"And  you  can  estimate,  also,  what  increase  of  comfort 
we  should  have  if  our  present  income  were  to  be  more  than 
doubled  —  which  it  would  be  in  this  way." 

"I'd  deem  it  positive  aflfluence,  George." 

"  That 's  all  I  want  you  to  comprehend.  The  next  ques- 
tion is  to  get  Vickars  to  consent ;  he  is  the  surviving  trus- 
tee, and  you  '11  have  to  write  to  him,  Ju.  It  will  come 
better  from  you  than  me,  and  say  —  what  you  can  say  with 
a  safe  conscience — that  we  are  miserably  poor,  and  that, 
though  we  pinch  and  save  in  every  way  we  can,  there's 
no  reaching  the  end  of  the  year  without  a  deficit  in  the 
budget." 

"  I  used  that  unlucky  phrase  once  before,  George,  and  he 
replied,  'Why  don't  you  cut  down  the  estimates?  '  " 

"I  know  he  did.  The  old  curmudgeon  meant  I  should 
sell  Nora,  and  he  has  a  son,  a  gentleman  commoner  at 
Cambridge,  that  spends  more  in  wine-parties  than  our  whole 
income." 

"But  it's  his  own,  George.  It  is  not  our  money  he  is 
wasting." 

"  Of  course  it  is  not;  but  does  that  exempt  him  from  all 
comment?     Not  that  it  matters  to  us,  however,"  added  he, 


AT  THE   COTTAGE.  107 

in  a  lighter  tone.  "  Sit  down,  and  try  what  you  can  do 
with  the  old  fellow.  You  used  to  be  a  great  pet  of  his 
once  on  a  time." 

"  Yes,  he  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  if  I  had  even  twenty 
thousand  pounds,  he  did  n't  know  a  girl  he  'd  rather  have 
for  a  daughter-in-law." 

"  He  did  n't  tell  you  that,  Ju?"  said  L'Estrange,  growing 
almost  purple  with  shame  and  rage  together. 

"  I  pledge  you  my  word  he  said  it." 

"  And  what  did  you  say?     What  did  you  do?  " 

"  I  wiped  my  eyes  with  my  handkerchief,  and  told  him 
it  was  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  felt  the  misery  of 
being  poor." 

"  And  I  wager  that  you  burst  out  laughing." 

''I  did,  George.  I  laughed  till  my  sides  ached.  I 
laughed  till  he  rushed  out  of  the  room  in  a  fit  of  passion, 
and  I  declare,  I  don't  think  he  ever  spoke  ten  words  to  me 
after." 

"This  gives  me  scant  hope  of  your  chance  of  success 
with  him." 

"  I  don't  know,  George.  All  this  happened  ten  months 
ago,  when  he  came  down  here  for  the  snipe-shooting.  He 
may  have  forgiven,  or  better  still,  forgotten  it.  In  any 
case,  tell  me  exactly  what  I  'm  to  write,  and  I  '11  see  what  I 
can  do  with  him." 

' '  You  're  to  say  that  your  brother  has  just  heard  from  a 
person,  in  whom  he  places  the  most  perfect  confidence,  say 
Harding  in  short  —  Colonel  Bramleigh's  agent  —  that  an 
enterprise  which  will  shortly  be  opened  here  offers  an  ad- 
mirable opportunity  of  investment,  and  that  as  your  small 
fortune  in  Consols  —  " 

"In  what?" 

"  No  matter.  Say  that  as  your  two  thousand  pounds  — 
which  now  yield  an  interest  of  seventy,  could  secure  you  an 
income  fully  four  times  that  sum,  you  hope  he  will  give  his 
consent  to  withdraw  the  money  from  the  Funds,  and  employ 
it  in  this  speculation.  I  'd  not  say  speculation,  I  'd  call  it 
mine  at  once  —  coal-mine." 

"  But  if  I  own  this  money,  why  must  I  ask  Mr.  Vickars' 
leave  to  make  use  of  it  as  I  please?" 


108  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

"He  is  your  trustee,  and  the  law  gives  him  this  power, 
Ju,  till  you  are  nineteen,  which  you  will  not  be  till  May 
next." 

' '  He  '11  scarcely  be  disagreeable,  when  his  opposition 
must  end  in   five   months." 

"  That 's  what  I  think  too,  but  before  that  five  months  i*un 
over  the  share  list  may  be  filled,  and  these  debentures  be 
probably  double  the  present  price." 

"  I  'm  not  sure  I  understand  your  reasoning,  but  I  '11  go 
and  write  my  letter,  and  you  shall  see  if  I  have  said  all  that 
you  wished." 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

OFFICIAL    CONFIDENCES. 

Lord  Culduff  accompanied  Colonel  Bramleigh  to  town. 
He  wanted  a  renewal  of  his  leave,  and  deemed  it  better  to 
see  the  head  of  the  department  in  person  than  to  address  a 
formal  demand  to  the  office.  Colonel  Bramleigh,  too,  thought 
that  his  Lordship's  presence  might  be  useful  when  the  day 
of  action  had  arrived  respecting  the  share  company  —  a 
lord  in  the  City  having  as  palpable  a  value  as  the  most 
favorable  news  that  ever  sent  up  the  Funds. 

When  they  reached  London  they  separated,  Bramleigh 
taking  up  his  quarters  in  the  Burlington,  while  Lord  Culduff 
—  on  pretence  of  running  down  to  some  noble  duke's  villa 
near  Richmond  —  snugly  installed  himself  in  a  very  modest 
lodging  off  St.  James's  Street,  where  a  former  valet  acted  as 
his  cook  and  landlord,  and  on  days  of  dining  out  assisted  at 
the  wonderful  toilet,  whose  success  was  alike  the  marvel  and 
the  envy  of  Culduff's  contemporaries. 

Though  a  man  of  several  clubs,  his  Lordship's  favorite 
haunt  was  a  small  unimposing-looking  house  close  to  St. 
James's  Square,  called  the  "Plenipo."  Its  members  were 
all  diplomatists,  nothing  below  the  head  of  a  mission  being 
eligible  for  ballot.  A  Masonic  mystery  pervaded  all  the 
doings  of  that  austere  temple,  whose  dinners  were  reported 
to  be  exquisite,  and  whose  cellar  had  such  a  fame  that 
"Plenipo  Lafitte"  had  a  European  reputation. 

Now,  veteran  asylums  have  many  things  recommendatory 
about  them,  but  from  Greenwich  and  the  Invalides  down- 
wards there  is  one  especial  vice  that  clings  to  them  —  they 
are  haunts  of  everlasting  complaint.  The  men  who  frequent 
them  all  belong  to  the  past,  their  sympathies,  their  asso- 
ciations, their  triumphs  and  successes,  all  pertain  to  the 
bygone.  Harping  eternally  over  the  frivolity,  the  emptiness, 
and  sometimes  the  vulgarity  of  the  present,  they  urge  each 


110  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY 

other  on  to  most  exaggerated  notions  of  the  time  when  they 
were  young,  and  a  deprecatory  estimate  of  the  world  then 
around  them. 

It  is  not  alone  that  the  days  of  good  dinners  and  good 
conversation  have  passed  aw^ay,  but  even  good  manners 
have  gone,  and  more  strangely  too,  good  looks.  "  I  protest 
you  don't  see  such  women  now "  —  one  of  these  bewigged 
and  rouged  old  debauchees  would  say,  as  he  gazed  at  the 
slow  procession  moving  on  to  a  drawing-room,  and  his  com- 
peers would  concur  with  him,  and  wonderiugly  declare  that 
the  thing  was  inexplicable. 

In  the  sombre-lookiug  breakfast-room  of  this  austere 
temple.  Lord  Culduff  sat  reading  the  "  Times."  A  mild, 
soft  rain  was  falling  without ;  the  water  dripping  tepid  and 
dirty  through  the  heavy  canopy  of  a  London  fog  ;  and  a  large 
coal  fire  blazed  within  —  that  fierce  furnace  which  seems  so 
congenial  to  English  taste ;  not  impossibly  because  it  recalls 
the  factory  and  the  smelting-house  —  the  "sacred  fire" 
that  seems  to  inspire  patriotism  by  the  suggestion  of  industry. 

Two  or  three  others  sat  at  tables  through  the  room,  all  so 
wonderfully  alike  in  dress,  feature,  and  general  appearance, 
that  they  almost  seemed  reproductions  of  the  same  figure  by 
a  series  of  mirrors;  but  they  were  priests  of  the  same 
"caste,"  whose  forms  of  thought  and  expression  were  pre- 
cisely the  same;  and  thus  as  they  dropped  their  scant 
remarks  on  the  topics  of  the  day,  there  was  not  an  observa- 
tion or  a  phrase  of  one  that  might  not  have  fallen  from  any 
of  the  others. 

"  So,"  cried  one,  "  they  're  going  to  send  the  Grand  Cross 
to  the  Duke  of  Hochmaringen.  That  will  be  a  special  mis- 
sion.    I  wonder  who  '11  get  it?  " 

"  Cloudesley,  I'd  say,"  observed  another;  "  he  's  always 
on  the  watch  for  anything  that  comes  into  the  '  extraor- 
dinaries.' " 

"  It  will  not  be  Cloudesley,"  said  a  third.  "  He  stayed 
away  a  year  and  eight  months  when  they  sent  him  to  Tripoli, 
and  there  was  a  rare  jaw  about  it  for  the  estimates." 

"Hochmaringen  is  near  Baden,  and  not  a  bad  place  for 
the  summer,"  said  Culduff.  "  The  duchess,  I  think,  was 
daughter  of  the  margravine." 


OFFICIAL  CONFIDENCES.  Ill 

"  Niece,  not  daughter,"  said  a  stern-looking  man,  who 
never  turned  his  eyes  from  his  newspaper. 

"  Niece  or  daughter,  it  matters  little  which,"  said  Culduff, 
irritated  at  correction  on  such  a  point. 

"  I  protest  I  'd  rather  take  a  turn  in  South  Africa,"  cried 
another,  "  than  accept  one  of  those  missions  to  Central 
Germany." 

"  You  're  right,  Upton,"  said  a  voice  from  the  end  of  the 
room  ;   "  the  cookery  is  insufferable." 

"  And  the  hours.     You  retire  to  bed  at  ten." 

"  And  the  ceremonial.  Blouute  never  threw  off  the  lum- 
bago he  got  from  bowing  at  the  court  of  Bratensdorf." 

"They're  ignoble  sort  of  things,  at  the  best,  and  should 
never  be  imposed  on  diplomatic  men.  These  investitures 
should  always  be  entrusted  to  court  functionaries,"  said 
Culduff,  haughtily.  "  If  I  were  at  the  head  of  F.  O.,  I  'd 
refuse  to  charge  one  of  the  'line'  with  such  a  mission." 

And  now  something  that  almost  verged  on  an  animated 
discussion  ensued  as  to  what  was  and  what  was  not  the  real 
province  of  diplomacy ;  a  majority  inclining  to  the  opinion 
that  it  was  derogatory  to  the  high  dignity  of  the  calling  to 
meddle  with  what,  at  best,  was  the  function  of  the  mere 
courtier. 

"Is  that  Culduff  driving  away  in  that  cab?"  cried  one, 
as  he  stood  at  the  window. 

"He  has  carried  away  my  hat,  I  see,  by  mistake,"  said 
another.      "  What  is  he  up  to  at  this  hour  of  the  morning?" 

"I  think  I  can  guess,"  said  the  grim  individual  who  had 
corrected  him  in  the  matter  of  genealogy ;  "  he 's  off  to 
F.  O.  to  ask  for  the  special  mission  he  has  just  declared 
that  none  of  us  should  stoop  to  accept." 

"  You  've  hit  it,  Grindesley,"  cried  another.  "  I  '11  wager 
a  pony  you  're  right." 

"It's  so  like  him." 

"After  all,  it's  the  sort  of  thing  he's  best  up  to.  La 
Ferronaye  told  me  he  was  the  best  master  of  the  ceremonies 
in  Europe." 

"Why  come  amongst  us  at  all,  then?  Why  not  get 
himself  made  a  gold-stick,  and  follow  the  instincts  of  his 
genius?" 


112  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

**  Well,  I  believe  he  wants  it  badly,"  said  one  who  affected 
a  tone  of  half  kindliness.  "  They  tell  me  he  has  not  eight 
hundred  a  year  left  him." 

"  Not  four.     I  doubt  if  he  could  lay  claim  to  three." 

"  He  never  had  in  his  best  day  above  four  or  five  thou- 
sand, though  he  tells  you  of  his  twenty-seven  or  twenty- 
eight." 

"  He  had  originally  about  six  ;  but  he  always  lived  at  the 
rate  of  twelve  or  fifteen,  and  in  mere  ostentation  too." 

"So  I've  always  heard."  And  then  there  followed  a 
number  of  little  anecdotes  of  Culduff's  selfishness,  his 
avarice,  his  meanness,  and  such  like,  told  with  such  exacti- 
tude as  to  show  that  every  act  of  these  men's  lives  was 
scrupulously  watched,  and  when  occasion  offered  mercilessly 
recorded. 

While  they  thus  sat  in  judgment  over  him,  Lord  Culduff 
himself  was  seated  at  a  fire  in  a  dingy  old  room  in  Downing 
Street,  the  Chief  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs  opposite  him. 
They  were  talking  in  a  tone  of  easy  familiarity,  as  men 
might  who  occupied  the  same  social  station,  a  certain  air 
of  superiority,  however,  being  always  apparent  in  the  man- 
ner of  the  Minister  towards  the  subordinate. 

"  I  don't  think  you  can  ask  for  this,  Culduff,"  said  the 
great  man,  as  he  puffed  his  cigar  tranquilly  in  front  of  him. 
''  You've  had  three  of  these  special  missions  already." 

"  And  for  the  simple  reason  that  I  was  the  one  man  in 
England  who  knew  how  to  do  them." 

"We  don't  dispute  the  way  you  did  them;  we  only  say 
all  the  prizes  in  the  wheel  should  not  fall  to  the  same 
man." 

"  You  have  had  my  proxy  for  the  last  five  years." 

"And  we  have  acknowledged  the  support — acknowledged 
it  by  more  than  professions." 

"  I  can  only  say  this,  that  if  I  had  been  with  the  other 
side,  I  'd  have  met  somewhat  different  treatment." 

"  Don't  believe  it,  Culduff.  Every  party  that  is  in  power 
inherits  its  share  of  obligations.  We  have  never  disowned 
those  we  owe  to  you." 

"  And  why  am  I  refused  this,  then?  " 

'^If  you  wanted  other  reasons  than  those  I  have  given 


OrnCIAL  CONFIDENCES.  113 

you,  I  might  be  able  to  adduce  them  —  not  willingly  indeed 

—  but  under  pressure,  and  especially  in  strict  confidence." 
"  Reasons  against  my  having  the  mission?  '* 

"  Reasons  against  your  having  the  mission." 

''You  amaze  me,  my  Lord.  I  almost  doubt  that  I  have 
heard  you  aright.  I  must,  however,  insist  on  your  explain- 
ing yourself.  Am  I  to  understand  that  there  are  personal 
grounds  of  unfitness?" 

The  other  bowed  in  assent. 

"  Have  the  kindness  to  let  me  know  them." 

"  P'irst  of  all,  Culduff,  this  is  to  be  a  family  mission  —  the 
duchess  is  a  connection  of  our  own  royal  house  —  and  a 
certain  degree  of  display  and  consequent  expense  will  be 
required.     Your  fortune  does  not  admit  of  this." 

"Push  on  to  the  more  cogent  reason,  my  Lord,"  said 
Culduff,  stiffly. 

"  Here,  then,  is  the  more  cogent  reason.  The  court  has 
not  forgotten  —  what  possibly  the  world  may  have  forgotten 

—  some  of  those  passages  in  your  life  for  which  you,  perhaps, 
have  no  other  remorse  than  that  they  are  not  likely  to  recur ; 
and  as  you  have  given  no  hostages  for  good  behavior,  in  the 
shape  of  a  wife,  the  court,  I  say,  is  sure  to  veto  your  appoint- 
ment.    You  see  it  all  as  clearly  as  I  do." 

"So  far  as  I  do  see,"  said  Culduff,  slowly:  "the  first 
objection  is  my  want  of  fortune,  the  second,  my  want  of  a 
wife?" 

"  Exactly  so." 

"Well,  my  Lord,  I  am  able  to  meet  each  of  these  obsta- 
cles ;  my  agent  has  just  discovered  coal  on  one  of  my  Irish 
estates,  and  I  am  now  in  town  to  make  arrangements  on  a 
large  scale  to  develop  the  source  of  wealth.  As  to  the 
second  disability,  I  shall  pledge  myself  to  present  the  Vis- 
countess Culduff  at  the  next  drawing-room." 

"  Married  already?" 

"  No,  but  I  may  be  within  a  few  weeks.  In  fact,  I  mean 
to  place  myself  in  such  a  position,  that  no  one  holding  your 
office  can  pass  me  over  by  a  pretext,  or  affect  to  ignore  my 
claim  by  affirming  that  I  labor  under  a  disability." 

"  This  sounds  like  menace,  does  it  not?  "  said  the  other  as 
he  threw  his  cigar  impatiently  from  him. 
8 


114  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  A  mere  protocol,  my  Lord,  to  denote  intention." 

*'Well,  I'll  submit  your  name.  I'll  go  further, — I'll 
support  it.  Don't  leave  town  for  a  day  or  two.  Call  on 
Beadlesworth  and  see  Repsley ;  tell  him  what  you  've  said 
to  me.  If  you  could  promise  it  was  one  of  his  old  maiden 
sisters  that  you  thought  of  making  Lady  Culduff,  the  thing 
could  be  clenched  at  once.  But  I  take  it  you  have  other 
views  ?  " 

"  I  have  other  views,"  said  he,  gravel3^ 
- "  I  'm  not  indiscreet,  and  I  shall  not  ask  you  more  on  that 
head.     By  the  way,  is  n't  your  leave  up,  or  nearly  up?  " 

"It  expii'ed  on  Wednesday  last,  and  I  want  it  renewed 
for  two  months." 

"  Of  course,  if  we  send  you  on  this  mission,  you  '11  not 
want  the  leave.  I  had  something  else  to  say.  What  was 
it?" 

"  I  have  not  the  very  vaguest  idea." 

"Oh!  I  remember.  It  was  to  recommend  you  not  to 
take  your  wife  from  the  stage.  There 's  a  strong  prejudice 
in  a  certain  quarter  as  to  that  —  in  fact,  I  may  say  it 
could  n't  be  got  over." 

"I  may  relieve  you  of  any  apprehensions » on  that  score. 
Indeed,  I  don't  know  what  fact  in  my  life  should  expose  me 
to  the  mere  suspicion." 

"Nothing,  nothing — except  that  impulsive  generosity  of 
your  disposition,  which  might  lead  you  to  do  what  other  men 
would  stop  short  to  count  the  cost  of." 

"  It  would  never  lead  me  to  derogate,  my  Lord,"  said  he, 
proudly,  as  he  took  his  hat,  and  bowing  haughtily  left  the 
room. 

"  The  greatest  ass  in  the  whole  career,  and  the  word  is  a 
bold  one,"  said  the  .Minister,  as  the  door  closed.  "  Mean- 
while, I  must  send  in  his  name  for  this  mission,  which  he  is 
fully  equal  to.  What  a  happy  arrangement  it  is,  that  in  an 
age  when  our  flunkies  aspire  to  be  gentlemen,  there  are 
gentlemen  who  ask  nothing  better  than  to  be  flunkies ! " 


CHAPTER  XV. 


WITH    HIS    LAWYER. 


Though  Colonel  Bramleigh's  visit  to  town  was  supposed  t» 
be  in  furtherance  of  that  speculation  by  which  Lord  Culduff 
calculated  on  wealth  and  splendor,  he  had  really  another 
object,  and  while  Culduff  imagined  him  to  be  busy  in  the 
City,  and  deep  in  shares  and  stock  lists,  he  was  closely 
closeted  with  his  lawyer,  and  earnestly  poring  over  a  mass 
of  time-worn  letters  and  documents,  carefully  noting  down 
dates,  docketing,  and  annotating,  in  a  way  that  showed 
what  importance  he  attached  to  the  task  before  him. 

"  I  tell  you  what,  Sedley,"  said  he,  as  he  threw  his  pen 
disdainfully  from  him,  and  lay  back  in  his  chair,  "  the  whole 
of  this  move  is  a  party  dodge.  It  is  part  and  parcel  of  that 
vile  persecution  with  which  the  Tory  faction  pursued  me 
during  my  late  canvass.  You  remember  their  vulgar  allu- 
sions to  my  father,  the  brewer,  and  their  coarse  jest  about 
my  frothy  oratory?  This  attack  is  but  the  second  act  of 
the  same  drama." 

"I  don't  think  so,"  mildly  rejoined  the  other  party. 
"Conflicts  are  sharp  enough  while  the  struggle  lasts;  but 
they  rarely  carry  their  bitterness  beyond  the  day  of  battle." 

''That  is  an  agent's  view  of  the  matter,"  said  Bramleigh, 
with  asperity.  "  The  agent  always  persists  in  believing  the 
whole  thing  a  sham  fight ;  but  though  men  do  talk  a  great 
deal  of  rot  and  humbug  about  their  principles  on  the  hus- 
tings, their  personal  feelings  are  just  as  real,  just  as  acute, 
and  occasionally  just  as  painful,  as  on  any  occasion  in  their 
lives;  and  I  repeat  to  you,  the  trumped-up  claim  of  this 
foreigner  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  a  piece  of  party, 
malignity." 


116  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

''  I  cannot  agree  with  you.  The  correspondence  we  have 
just  been  looking  at  shows  how  upwards  of  forty  years  ago 
the  same  pretensions  were  put  forward,  and  a  man  calling 
himself  Montagu  Lami  Bramleigh  declared  he  was  the  right- 
ful heir  to  your  estates." 

"  A  rightful  heir  whose  claims  could  be  always  compro- 
mised by  a  ten-pound  note  was  scarcely  very  dangerous." 

"  Why  make  any  compromise  at  all  if  the  fellow  was 
clearly  an  impostor?" 

''For  the  very  reason  that  you  yourself  now  counsel  a 
similar  course :  to  avoid  the  scandal  of  a  public  trial.  To 
escape  all  those  insolent  comments  which  a  party  press  is 
certain  to  pass  on  a  political  opponent." 

"  That  could  scarcely  have  been  apprehended  from  the 
Bramleigh  I  speak  of,  who  was  clearly  poor,  illiterate,  and 
friendless ;  whereas  the  present  man  has,  from  some  source 
or  other,  funds  to  engage  eminent  counsel  and  retain  one  of 
the  first  men  at  the  bar." 

"  I  protest,  Sedley,  you  puzzle  me,"  said  Bramleigh,  with 
an  angry  sparkle  in  his  eye.  "  A  few  moments  back  you 
treated  all  this  pretension  as  a  mere  pretext  for  extorting 
mone}^,  and  now  you  talk  of  this  fellow  and  his  claim  as 
subjects  that  may  one  day  be  matter  for  the  decision  of 
a  jury.  Can  you  reconcile  two  views  so  diametrically 
opposite?" 

"  I  think  I  can.  It  is  at  law  as  in  war.  The  feint  may 
be  carried  on  to  a  real  attack  whenever  the  position  assailed 
be  possessed  of  an  over-confidence  or  but  ill  defended.  It 
might  be  easy  enough,  perhaps,  to  deal  with  this  man.  Let 
him  have  some  small  success,  however ;  let  him  gain  a  ver- 
dict, for  instance,  in  one  of  those  petty  suits  for  ejectment, 
and  his  case  at  once  becomes  formidable." 

"  All  this,"  said  Bramleigh,  "  proceeds  on  the  assumption 
that  there  is  something  in  the  fellow's  claim?" 

"  Unquestionably." 

"  I  declare,"  said  Bramleigh,  rising  and  pacing  the  room, 
"  I  have  not  temper  for  this  discussion.  My  mind  has  not 
been  disciplined  to  that  degree  of  refinement  that  I  can  ac- 
cept a  downright  swindle  as  a  demand  founded  on  justice." 

'*  Let  us  prove  it  a  swindle,  and  there  is  an  end  of  it." 


WITH   HIS   LAWYER.  117 

*'  And  will  you  tell  me,  sir,"  said  he,  passionately,  "  that 
every  gentleman  holds  his  estates  on  the  condition  that  the 
title  may  be  contested  by  any  impostor  who  can  dupe  people 
into  advancing  money  to  set  the  law  in  motion?  " 

"  When  such  proceedings  are  fraudulent  a  very  heavy 
punishment  awaits  them." 

"  And  what  punishment  of  the  knave  equals  the  penalty 
inflicted  on  the  honest  man  in  exposure,  shame,  insolent 
remarks,  and  worse  than  even  these,  a  contemptuous  pity 
for  that  reverse  of  fortune  which  newspaper  writers  always 
announce  as  an  inevitable  consummation?  " 

"These  are  all  hard  things  to  bear,  but  I  don't  suspect 
they  ever  deterred  any  man  from  holding  an  estate." 

The  half  jocular  tone  of  his  remark  rather  jarred  on 
Bramleigh's  sensibilities,  and  he  continued  to  walk  the  room 
in  silence ;  at  last,  stopping  short,  he  wheeled  round  and 
said,  — 

"  Do  you  adhere  to  your  former  opinion?  would  you  try  a 
compromise?  " 

''  I  would.  The  man  has  a  case  quite  good  enough  to 
interest  a  speculative  lawyer  —  good  enough  to  go  before  a 
jury  —  good  enough  for  everything  but  success.  One  half 
what  the  defence  would  cost  you  will  probably  satisfy  his 
expectations,  not  to  speak  of  all  you  will  spare  yourself  in 
unpleasantness  and  exposure." 

"  It  is  a  hard  thing  to  stoop  to,"  said  Bramleigh,  painfully. 

"  It  need  not  be,  at  least  not  to  the  extent  you  imagine ; 
and  when  you  throw  your  eye  over  your  lawyer's  bill  of 
costs,  the  phrase  '  incidental  expenses  '  will  spare  your  feel- 
ings any  more  distinct  reference  to  this  transaction." 

*'  A  most  considerate  attention.  And  now  for  the  practi- 
cal part.     Who  is  this  man's  lawyer?" 

"A  most  respectable  practitioner.  Kelson,  of  Temple 
Court.     A  personal  friend  of  my  own." 

*'  And  what  terms  would  you  propose?  " 

•'  I  'd  offer  five  thousand,  and  be  prepared  to  go  to  eight, 
possibly  to  ten." 

"  To  silence  a  mere  menace?  " 

"Exactly.  It's  a  mere  menace  to-day,  but  six  months 
hence  it  may  be  something  more  formidable.  It  is  a  curious 
case,  cleverly  contrived  and  ingeniously   put   together.     I 


118  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

don't  say  that  we  could  n't  smash  it ;  such  carpentry  always 
has  a  chink  or  an  open  somewhere.  Meanwhile  the  scandal 
is  spreading  over  not  only  England,  but  over  the  world,  and 
no  matter  how  favorable  the  ultimate  issue,  there  will  always 
remain  in  men's  minds  the  recollection  that  the  right  to  your 
estate  was  contested,  and  that  you  had  to  defend  your 
possession." 

"I  had  always  thought  till  now,"  said  Bramleigh,  slowly, 
"  that  the  legal  mind  attached  very  little  importance  to  the 
flying  scandals  that  amuse  society.  You  appear  to  accord 
them  weight  and  influence." 

' '  I  am  not  less  a  man  of  the  world  because  I  am  a  lawyer, 
Colonel  Bramleigh,"  said  the  other,  half  tartly. 

"  If  this  must  be  done  the  sooner  it  be  over  the  better.  A 
man  of  high  station  —  a  peer  —  is  at  this  moment  paying 
such  attention  to  one  of  my  daughters  that  I  may  expect  at 
any  moment,  to-day  perhaps,  to  receive  a  formal  proposal 
for  her  hand.  I  do  not  suspect  that  the  threat  of  an  un- 
known claimant  to  my  property  would  disturb  his  Lordship's 
faith  in  my  security  or  my  station,  but  the  sensitive  dislike 
of  men  of  his  class  to  all  publicity  that  does  not  redound  to 
honor  or  distinction  —  the  repugnance  to  whatever  draws 
attention  to  them  for  aught  but  court  favor  or  advancement 
—  might  well  be  supposed  to  have  its  influence  with  him, 
and  I  think  it  would  be  better  to  spare  him  —  to  spare  us, 
too  —  this  exposure." 

"  I  '11  attend  to  it  immediately.  Kelson  hinted  to  me  that 
the  claimant  was  now  in  England." 

"  I  was  not  aware  of  that." 

"Yes,  he  is  over  here  now,  and  I  gather,  too,  has  con- 
trived to  interest  some  people  in  his  pretensions." 

"  Does  he  affect  the  station  of  a  gentleman?  " 

"  Thoroughly  ;  he  is,  I  am  told,  well-mannered,  prepossess- 
ing in  appearance,  and  presentable  in  every  respect." 

"  Let  us  ask  him  over  to  Castello,  Sedley,"  said  Bram- 
leigh, laughing. 

"  I  've  known  of  worse  strategy,"  said  the  lawyer,  dryly. 

"  What !  are  you  actually  serious?  " 

"  I  say  that  such  a  move  might  not  be  the  worst  step  to 
an  amicable  settlement.  In  admitting  the  assailant  to  see 
all  the  worth  and  value  of  the  fortress,  it  would  also  show 


WITH  HIS  LAWYER.  119 

him  the  resources  for  defence,  and  he  might  readily  compute 
what  poor  chances  were  his  against  such  odds." 

*'  Still,  I  doubt  if  I  could  bring  myself  to  consent  to  it. 
There  is  a  positive  indignity  in  making  any  concession  to 
such  a  palpable  imposture." 

"  Not  palpable  till  proven.  The  most  unlikely  cases  have 
now  and  then  pushed  some  of  our  ablest  men  to  upset.  At- 
tack can  always  choose  its  own  time,  its  own  ground,  and  is 
master  of  almost  every  condition  of  the  combat." 

"  I  declare,  Sedley,  if  this  man  had  retained  your  services 
to  make  a  good  bargain  for  him,  he  could  scarcely  have 
selected  a  more  able  agent." 

"  You  could  not  more  highly  compliment  the  zeal  I  am 
exercising  in  your  service." 

"Well,  I  take  it  I  must  leave  the  whole  thing  in  j^our 
hands.  I  shall  not  prolong  my  stay  in  town.  I  wanted  to 
do  something  in  the  city,  but  I  find  these  late  crashes  in 
the  banks  have  spread  such  terror  and  apprehension,  that 
nobody  will  advance  a  guinea  on  anything.  There  is  an 
admirable  opening  just  now  —  coal." 

"In  Egypt?" 

"  No,  in  Ireland." 

"Ah,  in  Ireland?  That's  very  different.  You  surely 
cannot  expect  capital  will  take  that  channel?" 

"  You  are  an  admirable  lawyer,  Sedley.  I  am  told 
London  has  not  your  equal  as  a  special  pleader,  but  let  me 
tell  you  you  are  not  either  a  projector  or  a  politician.  I  am 
both,  and  I  declare  to  you  that  this  country  which  you 
deride  and  distrust  is  the  California  of  Great  Britain.  Write 
to  me  at  your  earliest ;  finish  this  business  if  you  can,  out 
of  hand,  and  if  you  make  good  terms  for  me  I  '11  send  you 
some  shares  in  an  enterprise  —  an  Irish  enterprise  —  which 
will  pay  you  a  better  dividend  than  some  of  your  East 
county  railroads." 

"  Have  you  changed  the  name  of  your  place?  Your  son, 
Mr.  John  Bramleigh,  writes  '  Bishop's  Folly '  at  the  top  of 
his  letter." 

"  It  is  called  Castello,  sir.  I  am  not  responsible  for  the 
silly  caprices  of  a  sailor." 


CHAPTER  XVL 

SOME    MISUNDERSTANDINGS. 

Lord  Culduff  and  Colonel  Bramleigh  spoke  little  to  each 
other  as  they  journeyed  back  to  Ireland.  Each  fell  back 
upon  the  theme  personally  interesting  to  him,  and  cared  not 
to  impart  it  to  his  neighbor.  They  were  not  like  men  who 
had  so  long  travelled  the  same  road  in  life  that  by  a  drop- 
ping word  a  whole  train  of  associations  can  be  conjured  up, 
and  familiar  scenes  and  people  be  passed  in  review  before 
the  mind. 

A  few  curt  sentences  uttered  by  Bramleigh  told  how 
matters  stood  in  the  City  —  money  was  "tight"  being  the 
text  of  all  he  said ;  but  of  that  financial  sensitiveness  that 
shrinks  timidly  from  all  enterprise  after  a  period  of  crash 
and  bankruptcy,  Culduff  could  make  nothing.  In  his  own 
craft  nobody  dreaded  the  fire  because  his  neighbor's  child 
was  burned,  and  he  could  not  see  why  capitalists  should  not 
learn  something  from  diplomac}^ 

Nor  was  Colonel  Bramleigh,  on  his  side,  much  better 
able  to  follow  the  subjects  which  had  interest  for  his  com- 
panion. The  rise  and  fall  of  kingdoms,  the  varying  fortunes 
of  states,  impressed  themselves  upon  the  City  man  by  the 
condition  of  financial  credit  they  implied,  and  a  mere  glance 
at  the  price  of  a  foreign  loan  conveyed  to  his  appreciation  a 
more  correct  notion  of  a  people  than  all  the  blue-books  and 
all  the  correspondence  with  plenipotentiaries. 

These  were  not  Culduff's  views.  His  code  —  it  is  the  code 
of  all  his  calling  —  was  :  No  country  of  any  pretensions,  no 
more  than  any  gentleman  of  blood  and  family,  ever  became 
bankrupt.  Pressed,  hard-pushed,  he  would  say.  Yes !  we 
all  of  us  have  had  our  difficulties,  and  to  surmount  them 
occasionally  we  are  driven  to  make  unprofitable  bargains, 


SOME   MISUNDERSTANDINGS.  121 

but  we  "rub  through,"  and  so  will  Greece  and  Spain  and 
those  other  countries  where  they  are  borrowing  at  twelve  or 
twenty  per  cent,  and  raise  a  loan  each  year  to  discharge 
the  dividends. 

Not  only,  then,  were  these  two  little  gifted  with  qualities 
to  render  them  companionable  to  each  other,  but  from  the 
totally  different  way  every  event  and  every  circumstance 
presented  itself  to  their  minds,  each  grew  to  conceive  for  the 
other  a  sort  of  depreciatory  estimate  as  of  one  who  only 
could  see  a  very  small  part  of  any  subject,  and  even  tha{ 
colored  and  tinted  by  the  hues  of  his  own  daily  calling. 

""  So,  then,"  said  Culduff,  after  listening  to  a  somewhat 
lengthy  explanation  from  Bramleigh  of  why  and  how  it  was 
that  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  financially  at  the  moment, 
—  "so,  then,  I  am  to  gather  the  plan  of  a  company  to  work 
the  mines  is  out  of  the  question  ?  " 

"  I  would  rather  call  it  deferred  than  abandoned,"  was  the 
cautious  reply. 

"In  my  career  what  we  postpone  we  generally  prohibit. 
And  what  other  course  is  open  to  us?  " 

"We  can  wait,  my  Lord,  we  can  wait.  Coal  is  not  like 
indigo  or  tobacco ;  it  is  not  a  question  of  hours  —  whether 
the  crop  be  saved  or  ruined.     We  can  wait." 

"Very  true,  sir;  but  Z  cannot  wait.  There  are  some 
urgent  calls  upon  me  just  now,  the  men  who  are  pressing 
which  will  not  be  so  complaisant  as  to  wait  either." 

"  I  was  always  under  the  impression,  my  Lord,  that  your 
position  as  a  peer,  and  the  nature  of  the  services  that  you 
were  engaged  in,  were  sufficient  to  relieve  you  from  all  the 
embarrassments  that  attach  to  humbler  men  in  difficulties?  " 

"They  don't  arrest,  but  they  dun  Us,  sir;  and  they  dun 
with  an  insistence  and  an  amount  of  menace,  too,  that 
middle-class  people  can  form  no  conception  of.  They  be- 
siege the  departments  we  serve  under  with  their  vulgar 
complaints,  and  if  the  rumor  gets  abroad  that  one  of  us  is 
about  to  be  advanced  to  a  governorship  or  an  embassy, 
they  assemble  in  Downing  Street  like  a  Reform  demonstra- 
tion. I  declare  to  you  I  had  to  make  my  way  through  a 
lane  of  creditors  from  the  Privy  Council  Office  to  the  private 
entrance   to   F.    0.,    my   hands   full   of    their   confounded 


122  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOr'S  FOLLY. 

accounts  —  one  fellow,  a  boot-maker,  actually  having  pinned 
his  bill  to  the  skirt  of  my  coat  as  I  went.  And  the  worst  of 
these  impertinences  is,  that  they  give  a  Minister  who  is 
indisposed  towards  you  a  handle  for  refusing  your  just 
claims.  I  have  just  come  through  such  an  ordeal :  I  have 
been  told  that  my  debts  are  to  be  a  bar  to  my  promotion." 

The  almost  tremulous  horror  which  he  gave  to  this  last 
expression  —  as  of  an  outrage  unknown  to  mankind  — 
warned  Bramleigh  to  be  silent. 

"I  perceive  that  you  do  not  find  it  easy  to  believe  this, 
but  I  pledge  my  word  to  you  it  is  true.  It  is  not  forty-eight 
hours  since  a  Secretary  of  State  assumed  to  make  my  per- 
sonal liabilities  —  the  things  which,  if  any  things  are  a 
man's  own,  are  certainly  so  —  to  make  these  an  objection 
to  my  taking  a  mission  of  importance.  I  believe  he  was 
sorry  for  his  indiscretion ;  I  have  reason  to  suppose  that  it 
was  a  blunder  he  will  not  readily  repeat." 

"And  you  obtained  your  appointment?  "  asked  Bramleigh. 

''  Minister  extraordinary  and  plenipotentiary  to  the  court 
of  Hochmaringen,"  said  Culduff,  with  a  slow  and  pompous 
enunciation. 

Bramleigh,  pardonably  ignorant  of  the  geography  of  the 
important  state  alluded  to,  merely  bowed  in  acknowledg- 
ment. "  Is  there  much  —  much  to  do  at  one  of  these 
courts?"  asked  he,  diffidently,   after  a  pause. 

"In  one  sense  there  is  a  great  deal.  In  Germany  the 
action  of  the  greater  cabinets  is  always  to  be  discovered  in 
the  intrigues  of  the  small  dukedoms,  just  as  you  gather 
the  temper  of  the  huntsman  from  the  way  he  lashes  the 
hounds.  You  may,  therefore,  send  a  '  cretin,'  if  you  like, 
to  Berlin  or  Vienna ;  you  want  a  man  of  tact  and  address  at 
Sigmaringen  or  Kleinesel-stadt.  They  begin  to  see  that 
here  at  home,  but  it  took  them  years  to  arrive  at  it." 

Whether  Bramleigh  was  confounded  by  the  depth  of  this 
remark,  or  annoyed  by  the  man  who  made  it,  he  relapsed 
into  a  dreamy  silence  that  soon  passed  into  sleep,  into  which 
state  the  illustrious  diplomatist  followed,  and  thus  was  the 
journey  made  till  the  tall  towers  of  Castello  came  into  view, 
and  they  found  themselves  rapidly  careering  along  with  four 
posters  towards  the  grand  entrance.     The  tidings  of  their 


SOME   MISUNDERSTANDINGS.  123 

coming  soon  reached  the  drawing-room,  and  the  hall  was 
filled  by  the  young  members  of  the  family  to  welcome  them. 
"  Kemember,"  said  Bramleigh,  "  we  have  had  nothing  but  a 
light  luncheon  since  morning.  Come  and  join  us,  if  you 
like,  in  the  dining-room,  but  let  us  have  some  dinner  as 
soon  as  may  be." 

It  is  not  pleasant,  perhaps,  to  be  talked  to  while  eating  by 
persons  quite  unemployed  by  the  pleasures  of  the  table ;  but 
there  is  a  sort  of  "  free  and  easy  "  at  such  times  not  wholly 
unconducive  to  agreeable  intercourse,  and  many  little  cares 
and  attentions,  impossible  or  unmeaning  in  the  more  formal 
habits  of  the  table,  are  now  graceful  adjuncts  to  the  incident. 
Thus  was  it  that  Marion  contrived  by  some  slight  service  or 
other  to  indicate  to  Lord  Culduff  that  he  was  an  honored 
guest ;  and  when  she  filled  his  glass  with  champagne,  and 
poured  a  little  into  her  own  to  pledge  him,  the  great  man 
felt  a  sense  of  triumph  that  warmed  the  whole  of  that  region 
where,  anatomically,  his  heart  was  situated.  While  the 
others  around  were  engaged  in  general  conversation,  she  led 
him  to  talk  of  his  journey  to  town,  and  what  he  had  done 
there ;  and  he  told  her  somewhat  proudly  of  the  high  mission 
about  to  be  entrusted  to  him,  not  omitting  to  speak  of  the 
haughty  tone  he  had  used  towards  the  Minister,  and  the 
spirit  he  had  evinced  in  asserting  his  just  claims.  "  We  had 
what  threatened  at  one  time  to  be  a  stormy  interview.  When 
a  man  like  myself  has  to  recall  the  list  of  his  services,  the 
case  may  well  be  considered  imminent.  He  pushed  me  to 
this,  and  I  accepted  his  challenge.  I  told  him,  if  I  am  not 
rich,  it  is  because  I  have  spent  my  fortune  in  maintaining 
the  dignity  of  the  high  stations  I  have  filled.  The  breaches 
in  my  fortune  are  all  honorable  wounds.  He  next  objected 
to  what  I  could  not  but  admit  as  a  more  valid  barrier  to  my 
claims.     Can  you  guess  it?" 

She  shook  her  head  in  dissent.  It  could  not  be  his  rdnk, 
or  anything  that  bore  upon  his  rank.  Was  it  possible  that 
official  prudery  had  been  shocked  by  the  noble  Lord's 
social  derelictions?  Had  the  scandal  of  that  old  elope- 
ment survived  to  tarnish  his  fame  and  injure  his  success? 
and  she  blushed  as  she  thought  of  the  theme  to  which  he 
invited  her  approach. 


124  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  I  see  you  do  divine  it,"  said  he,  smiling  courteously. 

"  I  suspect  not,"  said  she,  diffidently,  and  still  blushing 
deeper. 

"  It  would  be  a  great  boon  to  me  —  a  most  encouraging 
assurance,"  said  he,  in  a  low  and  earnest  voice,  ''  if  I 
could  believe  that  your  interest  in  me  went  so  far  as  actu- 
ally to  read  the  story  and  anticipate  the  catastrophe  of  my 
life.  Tell  me  then,  I  entreat  you,  that  you  know  what  I 
allude  to." 

She  hesitated.  "Was  it  possible,"  thought  she,  "that 
he  wished  me  to  admit  that  my  opinion  of  him  was  not 
prejudiced  by  this  'escapade'  of  thirty  years  ago?  Is  he 
asking  me  to  own  that  I  am  tolerant  towards  such  offences  ?  " 
His  age,  his  tone  generally,  his  essentially  foreign  breeding, 
made  this  very  possible.  Her  perplexity  was  great,  and 
her  confusion  increased  with  every  minute. 

At,  this  critical  moment  there  was  a  general  move  to  go 
into  the  drawing-room,  and  as  he  gave  her  his  arm.  Lord 
Culduff  drew  her  gently  towards  him,  and  said  in  his  most 
insinuating  voice,  "  Let  me  hear  my  fate." 

"I  declare,  my  Lord,"  said  she,  hesitatingly,  "  I  don't 
know  what  to  say.  Moralists  and  worldly  people  have  two 
different  measures  for  these  things.  I  have  no  pretensions 
to  claim  a  place  with  the  former,  and  I  rather  shrink  from 
accepting  all  the  ideas  of  the  latter.  At  all  events,  I  would 
suppose  that  after  a  certain  lapse  of  time,  when  years  have 
gone  over  —  profitably,  I  would  hope  —  in  fact,  I  mean  — 
in  short,  I  do  not  know  what  I  mean."    -- — 

"You  mean,  perhaps,  that  it  is  not  at  my  time  of  life 
men  take  such  a  step  with  prudence.  Is  that  it?  "  asked 
he,  trying  in  vain  to  keep  down  the  ii'ritation  that  moved 
him. 

"  Well,  my  Lord,  I  believe  about  the  prudence  there  can 
scarcely  be  two  opinions,  whether  a  man  be  young  or  old. 
These  things  are  wrong  in  themselves,  and  nothing  can 
make  them  right." 

"  I  protest  I  am  unable  to  follow  you,"  said  he,  tartly. 

"  All  the  better,  my  Lord,  if  I  be  only  leading  you  where 
you  have  no  inclination  to  wander.  I  see  Nelly  wants  me 
at  the  piano." 


SOME   MISUNDERSTANDINGS.  125 

"  And  you  prefer  accompanying  her  to  vie  9  "  said  he, 
reproachfully, 

"  At  least,  my  Lord,  we  shall  be  in  harmony,  which  is 
scarcely  our  case  here." 

He  sighed,  almost  theatrically,  as  he  relinquished  her  arm, 
and  retiring  to  a  remote  part  of  the  room,  affected  to  read 
a  newspaper.  Mr.  Cutbill,  however,  soon  drew  a  chair  near, 
and  engaged  him  in  conversation. 

''  So  Bramleigh  has  done  nothing,"  whispered  Cutbill,  as 
he  bent  forward.  ''  He  did  not,  so  far  as  I  gather,  eveu 
speak  of  the  mine  in  the  City." 

"  He  said  it  was  of  no  use ;  the  time  was  unfavorable." 

"  Did  you  ever  know  it  otherwise?  Is  n't  it  with  that  same 
cant  of  an  unfavorable  time  these  men  always  add  so  much 
to  the  premium  on  every  undertaking  ?  " 

"  Sir,  I  am  unable  to  answer  your  question.  It  is  my 
first  —  I  would  I  may  be  able  to  say,  and  my  last  —  occa- 
sion to  deal  with  this  class  of  people." 

"They're  not  a  bad  set,  after  all;  only  you  must  take 
them  in  the  way  they  're  used  to  —  the  way  they  under- 
stand." 

"  It  is  a  language  I  have  yet  to  learn,  Mr.  Cutbill." 

"  The  sooner  your  Lordship  sets  to  work  at  it  the  better 
then." 

Lord  Culduff  wheeled  round  in  his  chair,  and  stared  with 
amazement  at  the  man  before  him.  He  saw,  however,  the 
unmistakable  signs  of  his  having  drunk  freely,  and  his  blood- 
shot eyes  declared  that  the  moment  was  not  favorable  for 
calm  discussion. 

"  It  would  be  as  well,  perhaps,  to  adjourn  this  conversa- 
tion," said  Culduff. 

"I'm  for  business  —  anywhere  and  at  any  moment.  I 
made  one  of  the  best  hits  I  ever  chanced  upon  after  a  smash 
on  the  Trent  Valley  line.  There  was  Boulders  —  of  the  firm 
of  Skale  and  Boulders  Brothers  —  had  his  shoulder  dislocated 
and  two  of  his  front  teeth  knocked  out.  He  was  lying  with 
a  lot  of  scantling  and  barrel-staves  over  him,  and  he  cried 
out,  '  Is  there  any  one  there?  '  I  said,  '  Yes  ;  Cutbill.  Tom 
Cutbill,  of  Viceregal  Terrace,   St.   John's  Wood.'  " 

Lord  Culduff's  patience  could  stand  no  more,  and  he  arose 


126  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

with  a  slight  bow  and  moved  haughtily  away.  Cutbill,  how- 
ever, was  quickly  at  his  side.  "  You  must  hear  the  rest  of 
this  ;  it  was  a  matter  of  close  on  ten  thousand  pounds  to  me, 
and  this  is  the  way  it  came  out  — " 

"  I  felicitate  you  heartily,  sir,  on  your  success,  but  beg  I 
may  be  spared  the  story  of  it." 

"You've  heard  worse.  Egad,  I'd  not  say  you  haven't 
told  worse.  It's  not  every  fellow,  I  promise  you,  has  his 
wits  about  him  at  a  moment  when  people  are  shouting  for 
help,  and  an  express  train  standing  on  its  head  in  a-^utting, 
and  a  tender  hanging  over  a  viaduct." 

"  Sir,  there  are  worse  inflictions  than  even  this." 

"  Eh,  what?"  said  Cutbill,  crossing  his  arms  on  his  chest, 
and  looking  fully  in  the  other's  face;  but  Lord  Culduff 
moved  quietly  on,  and,  approaching  a  table  where  Ellen  was 
seated,  said,  "I'm  coming  to  beg  for  a  cup  of  tea;  "  not  a 
trace  of  excitement  or  irritation  to  be  detected  in  his  voice 
or  manner.  He  loitered  for  a  few  moments  at  the  table, 
talking  lightly  and  pleasantly  on  indifferent  subjects,  and 
then  moved  carelessly  away  till  he  found  himself  near  the 
door,  when  he  made  a  precipitate  escape  and  hurried  up  to 
his  room. 

It  was  his  invariable  custom  to  look  at  himself  carefully 
in  the  glass  whenever  he  came  home  at  night.  As  a  general 
might  have  examined  the  list  of  killed  and  wounded  after  an 
aHion,  computing  with  himself  the  cost  of  victory  or  defeat, 
so  did  this  veteran  warrior  of  a  world's  campaign  go  care- 
fully over  all  the  signs  of  wear  and  tear,  the  hard  lines 
of  pain  or  checkered  coloring  of  agitation,  which  his  last 
engagement  might  have  inflicted. 

As  he  sat  down  before  his  mirror  now,  he  was  actually 
shocked  to  see  what  ravages  a  single  evening  had  produced. 
The  circles  around  his  eyes  were  deeply  indented,  tlie  corners 
of  his  mouth  drawn  down  so  fixedly  and  firmly  that  all 
attempts  to  conjure  up  a  smile  were  failures,  while  a  purple 
tint  beneath  his  rouge  totally  destroyed  that  delicate  color- 
ing which  was  wont  to  impart  the  youthful  look  to  his 
features. 

The  vulgar  impertinence  of  Cutbill  made  indeed  but  little 
impression  upon  him.     An  annoyance  while  it  lasted,  it  still 


SOME  MISUNDERSTANDINGS.  127 

left  nothing  for  memory  that  could  not  be  dismissed  with 
ease.  It  was  Marion.  It  was  what  she  had  said  that 
weio-hed  so  painfully  on  his  heart,  wounding  where  he  was 
most  intensely  and  delicately  sensitive.  She  had  told  him  — 
what  had  she  told  him?  He  tried  to  recall  her  exact  words, 
but  he  could  not.  They  were  in  reply  to  remarks  of  his  own, 
and  owed  all  their  significance  to  the  context.  One  thing 
she  certainly  had  said  —  that  there  were  certain  steps  in  life 
about  which  the  world  held  but  one  opinion,  and  the  allusion 
was  to  men  marrying  late  in  life ;  and  then  she  added  a  re- 
mark as  to  the  want  of  "  sympathy  "  —  or  was  it  "  harmony  " 
she  called  it?  —between  them.  How  strange  that  he  could 
not  remember  more  exactly  all  that  passed,  he,  who,  after 
his  interviews  with  Ministers  and  great  men,  could  go  home 
and  send  off  in  an  official  despatch  the  whole  dialogue  of  the 
audience.  But  why  seek  for  the  precise  expressions  she 
employed?  The  meaning  should  surely  be  enough  for  him, 
and  that  was  —  there  was  no  denying  it  —  that  the  disparity 
of  their  ages  was  a  bar  to  his  pretensions.  '^  Had  our  ranks 
in  life  been  alike,  there  might  have  been  force  in  her  obser- 
vation ;  but  she  forgets  that  a  coronet  encircles  a  brow  like  a 
wreath  of  youth ;  "  and  he  adjusted  the  curls  of  his  wig  as 
be  spoke,  and  smiled  at  himself  more  successfully  than  he 
had  done  before. 

"  On  the  whole,  perhaps  it  is  better,"  said  he,  as  he  arose 
and  walked  the  room.  "  A  mesalliance  can  only  be  justified 
by  great  beauty  or  great  wealth.  One  must  do  a  consumedly 
rash  thing,  or  a  wonderfully  sharp  one,  to  come  out  well  with 
the  world.  Forty  thousand,  and  a  good-looking  girl  —  she 
is  n't  more  —  would  not  satisfy  the  just  expectations  of  soci- 
ety, which,  with  men  like  myself,  are  severely  exacting." 

He  had  met  with  a  repulse,  he  could  not  deny  it,  and  the 
sense  of  pain  it  inflicted  galled  him  to  the  quick.  To  be 
sure,  the  thing  occurred  in  a  remote,  out-of-the-way  ^pot, 
where  there  were  no  people  to  discover  or  retail  the  story 
It  was  not  as  if  it  chanced  in  some  cognate  land  of  society 
where  such  incidents  get  immediate  currency  and  form  th-. 
gossip  of  every  coterie.  Who  was  ever  to  hear  of  what 
passed  in  an  Irish  country-house?  Marion  herself  indeed 
might  write  it  —  she  most  probably  would  —  but  to  whom  ? 


128  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

To  some  friend  as  little  in  the  world  as  herself,  and  none 
knew  better  than  Lord  Culduff  of  how  few  people  the 
''  world"  was  composed.  It  was  a  defeat,  but  a  defeat  that 
need  never  be  gazetted.  And,  after  all,  are  not  the  worst 
things  in  all  our  reverses,  the  comments  that  are  passed  upon 
them?  Are  not  the  censures  of  our  enemies  and  the  con- 
dolences of  our  friends  sometimes  harder  to  bear  than  the 
misfortunes  that  have  evoked  them? 

AYhat  Marion's  manner  towards  him  might  be  in  future, 
was  also  a  painful  reflection.  It  would  naturally  be  a 
triumphant  incident  in  her  life  to  have  rejected  such  an 
offer.  Would  she  be  eager  to  parade  this  fact  before  the 
world?  Would  she  try  to  let  people  know  that  she  had 
refused  him?  This  was  possible.  He  felt  that  such  a 
slight  would  tarnish  the  whole  glory  of  his  life,  whose  boast 
was  to  have  done  many  things  that  were  actually  wicked, 
but  not  one   that  was  merely  weak. 

The  imminent  matter  was  to  get  out  of  his  present  situa- 
tion without  defeat.  To  quit  the  field,  but  not  as  a  beaten 
army ;  and  revolving  how  this  was  to  be  done  he  sunk  off 
to  sleep. 


CHAPTER     XVn. 

AT    CASTELLO. 

A  PRIVATE  letter  from  a  friend  had  told  Jack  Bramleigh 
that  his  father's  opposition  to  the  Government  had  consid- 
erably damaged  his  chance  of  being  employed,  but  that  he 
possibly  might  get  a  small  command  on  the  African  station. 
With  what  joy  then  did  he  receive  the  "official,"  marked  on 
H.M.'s  service,  informing  him  that  he  was  appointed  to 
the  "  Sneezer  "  despatch  gunboat,  to  serve  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, and  enjoining  him  to  repair  to  town  without  un- 
necessary delay,   to  receive  further  orders. 

He  had  forborne,  as  we  have  seen,  to  tell  Julia  his  former 
tidings.  They  were  not  indeed  of  a  nature  to  rejoice  over, 
but  here  was  great  news.  He  only  wanted  two  more  years 
to  be  qualified  for  his  "Post,"  and  once  a  captain,  he 
would  have  a  position  which  might  warrant  his  asking  Julia 
to  be  his  wife,  and  thus  was  it  that  the  great  dream  of  his 
whole  existence  was  interwoven  into  his  career,  and  his 
advancement  as  a  sailor  linked  with  his  hopes  as  a  lover; 
and  surely  it  is  well  for  us  that  ambitions  in  life  appeal  to 
us  in  other  and  humbler  ways  than  by  the  sense  of  triumph, 
and  that  there  are  better  rewards  for  success  than  either  the 
favor  of  princes  or  the  insignia  of  rank. 

To  poor  Jack,  looking  beyond  that  two  years,  it  was  not 
a  three-decker,  nor  even  frigate,  it  was  the  paradise  of  a 
cottage  overgrown  with  sweetbrier  and  honeysuckle, -that 
presented  itself,  —  and  a  certain  graceful  figure,  gauzy  and 
floating,  sitting  in  the  porch,  while  he  lay  at  her  feet,  lulled 
by  the  drowsy  ripple  of  the  little  trout-stream  that  ran  close 
by.  So  possessed  was  he  by  this  vision,  so  entirely  and 
wholly  did  it  engross  him,  that  it  was  with  difficulty  he 
gave  coherent  replies  to  the  questions  poured  in  upon  him 


130  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

at  the  breakfast-table,  as  to  the  sort  of  service  he  was 
about  to  be  engaged  in,  and  whether  it  was  as  good  or  a 
better  thing  than  he  had  been  expecting. 

"I  wish  you  joy.  Jack,"  said  Augustus.  "You're  a 
lucky  dog  to  get  afloat  again  so  soon.  You  have  n't  been 
full  six  months  on  half-pay." 

"I  wish  you  joy,  too,"  said  Temple,  "and  am  thankful 
to  Fate  it  is  you,  and  not  I,  have  to  take  the  command  of 
H.M.'s  gunboat  'Sneezer.'" 

"Perhaps,  all  things  considered,  it  is  as  well  as  it  is," 
said  Jack,  dryly. 

"  It  is  a  position  of  some  importance.  I  mean  it  is  not 
the  mere  command  of  a  small  vessel,"  said  Marion,  haughtily ; 
for  she  was  always  eager  that  every  incident  that  befell  the 
family  should  redound  to  their  distinction,  and  subserve 
their  onward  march  to  greatness. 

"Oh,  Jack,"  whispered  Nelly,  "let  us  walk  over  to  the 
cottage,  and  tell  them  the  news ; "  and  Jack  blushed  as  he 
squeezed  her  hand  in  gratitude  for  the  speech. 

"I  almost  wonder  they  gave  you  this.  Jack,"  said  his 
father,  "seeing  how  active  a  part  I  took  against  them;  but 
I  suppose  there  is  some  truth  in  the  saying  that  Ministers 
would  rather  soothe  enemies  than  succor  friends." 

"Don't  you  suspect,  papa,  that  Lord  Culduff  may  have 
had  some  share  in  this  event?  His  influence,  I  know,  is 
very  great  with  his  party,"   said  Marion. 

"I  hope  and  trust  not,"  burst  out  Jack;  "rather  than  owe 
my  promotion  to  that  bewigged  old  dandy,  I  'd  go  and  keep 
a  lighthouse." 

"A  most  illiberal  speech,"  said  Temple.  "I  was  about 
to  employ  a  stronger  word,  but  still  not  stronger  than  my 
sense  of  its  necessity." 

"Remember,  Temple,"  replied  Jack,  "I  have  no  possible 
objection  to  his  being  your  patron.  I  only  protest  that  he 
shan't  be  mine.  He  may  make  you  something  ordinary  or 
extraordinary  to-morrow,  and  I'll  never  quarrel  about  it." 

"I  am  grateful  for  the  concession,"  said  the  other, 
bowing. 

"If  it  was  Lord  Culduff  that  got  you  this  step,"  said 
Colonel  Bramleigh,    "I  must  say   nothing   could   be   more 


AT  CASTELLO.  131 

delicate  than  his  conduct;  he  never  so  much  as  hinted  to 
me  that  he  had  taken  trouble  in  the  matter." 

"  He  is  such  a  gentleman !  "  said  Marion,  with  a  very 
enthusiastic  emphasis  on  the  word. 

"Well,  perhaps  it's  a  very  ignoble  confession,"  said 
Nelly;  "but  I  frankly  own  I  'd  rather  Jack  owed  his  good 
fortune  to  his  good  fame  than  to  all  the  peers  in  the 
calendar." 

"What  pains  Ellen  takes,"  said  Marion,  "to  show  that 
her  ideas  of  life  and  the  world  are  not  those  of  the  rest  of 
us." 

"She  has  me  with  her  whenever  she  goes  into  the  lobby," 
said  Jack,  "or  I  '11  pair  with  Temple,  who  is  sure  to  be  on 
the  stronger  side." 

"Your  censure  I  accept  as  a  compliment,"  said  Temple. 

"And  is  this  all  our  good  news  has  done  for  us,  — to  set 
us  exchanging  tart  speeches  and  sharp  repartees  with  each 
other?"  said  Colonel  Bramleigh.  "I  declare  it  is  a  very 
ungracious  way  to  treat  pleasant  tidings.  Go  out,  boys, 
and  see  if  you  could  n't  find  some  one  to  dine  with  us,  and 
wet  Jack's  commission  as  they  used  to  call  it  long  ago." 

"We  can  have  the  L'Estranges  and  our  amiable  neigh- 
bor. Captain  Craufurd,"  said  Marion;  "but  I  believe  our 
resources  end  with  these." 

"Why  not  look  up  the  Frenchman  you  smashed  some 
weeks  ago,  Jack?"  said  Augustus;  "he  ought  to  be  about 
by  this  time,  and  it  would  only  be  common  decency  to 
show  him  some  attention." 

"With  all  my  heart.  I'll  do  anything  you  like  but  talk 
French  with  him.     But  where  is  he  to  be  found?  " 

"  He  stops  with  Longworth,"  said  Augustus,  "  which  makes 
the  matter  awkward.  Can  we  invite  one  without  the  other, 
and  can  we  open  our  acquaintance  with  Longworth  by  an 
invitation  to  dinner  ?  " 

"Certainly  not,"  chimed  in  Temple.  "First  acquaint- 
ance admits  of  no  breaches  of  etiquette.  Intimacies  may, 
and  rarely,   too,   forgive  such." 

"What  luck  to  have  such  a  pilot  to  steer  us  through  the 
narrow  channel  of  proprieties,"  cried  Jack,  laughing. 

"I  think,  too,  it  would  be  as  well  to  remember,"  resumed 


132  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOFS   FOLLY. 

Temple,  "  that  Lord  Culduff  is  our  guest,  and  to  whatever 
accidents  of  acquaintanceship  we  may  be  ready  to  expose 
ourselves,  we  have  no  right  to  extend  these  casualties  to 
him.'* 

"  I  suspect  we  are  not  likely  to  see  his  lordship  to-day, 
at  least.  He  has  sent  down  his  man  to  beg  he  may  be 
excused  from  making  his  appearance  at  dinner:  a  slight 
attack  of  gout  confines  him  to  his  room,"  said  Marion. 

''That's  not  the  worst  bit  of  news  I  've  heard  to-day," 
broke  in  Jack.  "Dining  in  that  old  cove's  company  is  the 
next  thing  to  being  tried  by  a  court-martial.  1  fervently 
hope  he  '11  be  on  the  sick  list  till  I  take  my  departure." 

"As  to  getting  these  people  together  to-day,  it 's  out  of 
the  question,"  said  Augustus.  "Let  us  say  Saturday  next, 
and   try  what  we   can  do." 

This  was  agreed  upon.  Temple  being  deputed  to  ride 
over  to  Longworth's,  leaving  to  his  diplomacy  to  make 
what  further  advances  events  seemed  to  warrant,  —  a  trust- 
ful confidence  in  his  tact  to  conduct  a  nice  negotiation 
being  a  flattery  more  than  sufficient  to  recompense  his 
ti-ouble.  Jack  and  Nelly  would  repair  to  the  cottage  to 
secure  the  L' Estranges.  Craufurd  could  be  apprised  by  a 
note. 

"Has  Cutbill  got  the  gout,  too?"  asked  Jack.  "I  have 
not  seen  him  this  morning." 

"No;  that  very  cool  gentleman  took  out  my  cob  ponj^, 
Fritz,  this  morning  at  daybreak,"  said  Augustus,  "saying 
he  was  off  to  the  mines  at  Lisconnor,  and  would  n't  be  back 
till  evening." 

"  And  do  you  mean  to  let  such  a  liberty  pass  unnoticed  ?  " 
asked  Temple. 

"  A  good  deal  will  depend  upon  how  Fritz  looks  after  his 
journey.  If  I  see  that  the  beast  has  not  suffered,  it  is  just 
possible  I  may  content  myself  with  a  mere  intimation  that 
I  trust  the  freedom  may  not  be  repeated." 

"  You  told  me  Anderson  offered  you  two  hundred  for  that 
cob,"  broke  in  Temple. 

"Yes,  and  asked  how  much  more  would  tempt  me  to  sell 
him." 

"  If  he  were  a  peer  of  the  realm,  and  took  such  a  liberty 


AT  CASTELLO.  138 

with  me,  I'd  not  forgive  him,"  said  Temple,   as  he  arose 
and  left  the  room  in  a  burst  of  indignation. 

"I  may  say  we  are  a  very  high-spirited  family,"  said 
Jack,  gravely,  "  and  I  '11  warn  the  world  not  to  try  any 
familiarities  with  us." 

"Come  away,  naughty  boy,"  whispered  Eleanor;  "you 
are  always  trailing  your  coat  for  some  one  to  stand  upon." 

"Tell  me,  Nelly,"  said  he,  as  they  took  their  way  through 
the  pinewood  that  led  to  the  cottage,  "tell  me,  Nelly,  am 
I  right  or  wrong  in  my  appreciation  —  for  I  really  want  to 
be  just  and  fair  in  the  matter  —  are  we  Bramleighs  con- 
founded snobs  ?  " 

The  downright  honest  earnestness  with  which  he  put  the 
question  made  her  laugh  heartily,  and  for  some  seconds 
left  her  unable  to  answer  him. 

"I  half  suspect  that  we  may  be,  Jack,"  said  she,  still 
smiling. 

"I'm  certain  of  one  thing,"  continued  he,  in  the  same 
earnest  tone;  "our  distinguished  guest  deems  us  such. 
There  is  a  sort  of  simpering  enjoyment  of  all  that  goes  on 
around  him,  and  a  condescending  approval  of  us  that  seems 
to  say,  'Go  on,  you  '11  catch  the  tone  yet.  You  're  not  doing 
badly  by  any  means.'  He  pushed  me  to  the  very  limit  of 
my  patience  the  other  day  with  this,  and  I  had  to  get  up 
from  luncheon  and  leave  the  house  to  avoid  being  openly 
rude  to  him.  Do  you  mind  my  lighting  a  cigar,  Nelly,  for 
I  've  got  myself  so  angry  that  I  want  a  weed  to  calm  me 
down  again  ?  " 

"  Let  us  talk  of  something  else ;  for  on  this  theme  I  'm 
not  much  better  tempered  than  yourself." 

"There  's  a  dear  good  girl,"  said  he,  drawing  her  towards 
him,  and  kissing  her  cheek.  "I  'd  have  sworn  you  felt  as 
I  did  about  this  old  fop;  and  we  must  be  arrant  snobs, 
Nelly,  or  else  his  coming  down  amongst  us  here  would'  not 
have  broken  us  all  up,  setting  us  exchanging  sneers  and 
scoffs,  and  criticising  each  other's  knowledge  of  life. 
Confound  the  old  humbug;  let  us  forget  him." 

They  walked  along  without  exchanging  a  word  for  full 
ten  minutes  or  more,  till  they  reached  the  brow  of  the  cliff, 
from  which  the   pathway  led   down   to   the   cottage.       "I 


OF    THE 


134  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

wonder  when  I  shall  stand  here  again?"  said  he,  pausing. 
"Not  that  I  'm  going  on  any  hazardous  service,  or  to  meet 
a  more  formidable  enemy  than  a  tart  flag-captain ;  but  the 
world  has  such  strange  turns  and  changes  that  a  couple  of 
years  may  do  anything  with  a  man's  destiny." 

"A  couple  of  years  may  make  you  a  post-captain,  Jack; 
and  that  will  be  quite  enough  to  change  your  destiny." 

He  looked  affectionately  towards  her  for  a  moment,  and 
then  turned  away  to  hide  the  emotion  he  could  not  master. 

"And  then.  Jack,"  said  she,  caressingly,  "it  will  be  a 
very  happy  day  that  shall  bring  us  to  this  spot  again." 

"  Who  knows,  Nelly  ?  "  said  he,  with  a  degree  of  agita- 
tion that  surprised  her.     "  I  have  n't  told  you  that  Julia  and 
I  had  a  quarrel  the  last  time  we  met." 
"A  quarrel!" 

"Well,  it  was  something  very  like  one.  I  told  her  there 
were  things  about  her  manner,  — certain  ways  she  had  that 
I  didn't  like;  and  I  spoke  very  seriously  to  her  on  the 
subject.  I  did  n't  go  beating  about,  but  said  she  was  too 
much  of  a  coquette." 
"Oh,  Jack!" 

"It's  all  very  well  to  be  shocked,  and  cry  out,  'Oh, 
Jack!  '  but  isn't  it  true?  Haven't  you  seen  it  yourself? 
Hasn't  Marion  said  some  very  strange  things  about  it?" 

"My  dear  Jack,  I  need  n't  tell  you  that  we  girls  are  not 
always  fair  in  our  estimates  of  each  other,  even  when  we 
think  we  are,  — and  it  is  not  always  that  we  want  to  think 
so.  Julia  is  not  a  coquette  in  any  sense  that  the  w^ord 
carries  censure,  and  you  were  exceedingly  wrong  to  tell  her 
she  was." 

"That 's  how  it  is!  "  cried  he,  pitching  his  cigar  away  in 
impatience.  "There  's  a  freemasonry  amongst  you  that 
calls  you  all  to  arms  the  moment  one  is  attacked.  Is  n't  it 
open  to  a  man  to  tell  the  girl  he  hopes  to  make  his  wife 
that  there  are  things  in  her  manner  he  does  n't  approve  of 
and  would  like  changed?" 

"Certainly  not;  at  least  it  would  require  some  nicer  tact 
than  yours  to  approach  such  a  theme  with  safety." 
"Temple,  perhaps,  could  do  it,"  said  he,  sneeringly. 
"Temple  certainly  would  not  attempt  it." 


AT  CASTELLO.  135 

Jack  made  a  gesture  of  impatience,  and,  as  if  desirous  to 
change  the  subject,  said,  "What 's  the  matter  with  our  dis- 
tinguished guest?  Is  he  ill,  that  he  won't  dine  below-stairs 
to-day  ?  " 

"  He  calls  it  a  slight  return  of  his  Greek  fever,  and  begs 
to  be  excused  from  presenting  himself  at  dinner." 

"  He  and  Temple  have  been  writing  little  three-cornered 
notes  to  each  other  all  the  morning.  I  suppose  it  is  dip- 
lomatic usage." 

The  tone  of  irritation  he  spoke  in  seemed  to  show  that  he 
was  actually  seeking  for  something  to  vent  his  auger  upon, 
and  trying  to  provoke  some  word  of  contradiction  or  dis- 
sent ;  but  she  was  silent,  and  for  some  seconds  they  walked 
on  without  speaking. 

"Look!"  cried  he,  suddenly;  "there  goes  Julia.  Do 
you  see  her  yonder  on  the  path  up  the  cliff;  and  who  is 
that  clambering  after  her?  I'll  be  shot  if  it's  not  Lord 
Culduff." 

"Julia  has  got  her  drawing-book,  I  see.  They're  on 
some  sketching  excursion." 

"He  wasn't  long  in  throwing  off  his  Greek  fever,  eh?" 
cried  Jack,  indignantly.  "It's  cool,  isn't  it,  to  tell  the 
people  in  whose  house  he  is  stopping  that  he  is  too  ill  to 
dine  with  them,  and  then  set  out  gallivanting  in  this 
fashion?" 

"  Poor  old  man !  "  said  she,  in  a  tone  of  half-scornful 
pity. 

"Was  I  right  about  Julia  now?"  cried  he,  angrily.  "I 
told  you  for  whose  captivation  all  her  little  gracefulnesses 
were  intended.  I  saw  it  the  first  night  he  stood  beside  her 
at  the  piano.  As  Marion  said,  she  is  determined  to  bring 
him  down.     She  saw  it  as  well  as  I  did." 

"  What  nonsense  you  are  talking,  Jack ;  as  if  Julia  would 
condescend  —  " 

"There  's  no  condescension,  Nelly,"  he  broke  in.  "The 
man  is  a  Lord,  and  the  woman  he  marries  will  be  a  peeress ; 
and  there  's  not  another  country  in  Europe  in  which  that 
word  means  as  much.  I  take  it,  we  need  n't  go  on  to  the 
cottage  now  ?  " 

"I  suppose  we  could  scarcely  overtake  them?  " 


136  THE  BKAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

*'  Overtake  them !  Why  should  we  try  ?  Even  my  tact, 
Nelly,  that  you  sneered  at  so  contemptuously  a  while  ago, 
would  save  me  from  such  a  blunder.  Come,  let 's  go  home 
and  forget,  if  we  can,  all  that  we  came  about.  /  at  least 
will  try  and  do  so." 

"  My  dear,  dear  Jack,  this  is  very  foolish  jealousy." 

"I  am  not  jealous,  Nelly.  I'm  angry;  but  it  is  with 
myself.  I  ought  to  have  known  what  humble  pretensions 
mine  were,  and  I  ought  to  have  known  how  certainly  a 
young  lady,  bred  as  young  ladies  are  now-a-days,  would 
regard  them  as  less  than  humble;  but  it  all  comes  of  this 
idle  shore-going,  good-for-nothing  life.  They  '11  not  catch 
me  at  it  again,  that's  all." 

"  Just  listen  to  me  patiently.  Jack.  Listen  to  me  for  one 
moment." 

"Not  for  half  a  moment.  I  can  guess  everything  you 
want  to  say  to  me,  and  I  tell  you  frankly,  I  don't  care  to 
hear  it.     Tell  me  whatever  you  like  to-morrow  — " 

He  tried  to  finish  his  speech,  but  his  voice  grew  thick 
and  faltering,   and  he  turned  away  and  was  silent. 

They  spoke  little  to  each  other  as  they  walked  home- 
wards. A  chance  remark  on  the  weather,  or  the  scenery, 
was  all  that  passed  till  they  reached  the  little  lawn  before 
the  door. 

"You'll  not  forget  your  pledge,  Jack,  for  to-morrow?" 
said  Ellen,  as  he  turned  towards  her  before  ascending  the 
steps. 

"I  '11  not  forget  it,"  said  he,  coldly,  and  he  moved  off  as 
he  spoke,  and  entered  an  alley  of  the  shrubbery. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


A    DULL    DINNER. 


The  family  dinner  on  that  day  at  Castello  was  somewhat 
dull.  The  various  attempts  to  secui-e  a  party  for  the 
ensuing  Saturday,  which  had  been  fixed  ou  to  celebrate 
Jack's  promotion,  had  proved  failures.  When  Temple 
arrived  at  Longworth's  he  learned  that  the  host  and  his 
guest  were  from  home  and  not  to  return  for  some  days  —  we 
have  seen  how  it  fared  as  to  the  L'Estranges  —  so  that  the 
solitary  success  was  Captain  Craufurd,  a  gentleman  who 
certainly  had  not  won  the  suffrages  of  the  great  house. 

There  were  two  vacant  places  besides  at  the  table;  for 
butlers  are  fond  of  recording,  by  napkins  and  covers,  how 
certain  of  our  friends  assume  to  treat  us,  and  thus,  as  it 
were,  contrast  their  own  formal  observances  of  duty  with 
the  laxer  notions  of  their  betters. 

"Lord  Culduff  is  not  able  to  dine  with  us,"  said  Colonel 
Bramleigh,  making  the  apology  as  well  to  himself  as  to  the 
company. 

"No,  papa,"  said  Marion;  "he  hopes  to  appear  in  the 
di'awing-room  in  the  evening." 

"If  not  too  much  tired  by  his  long  walk,"  broke  in  Jack. 

"What  walk  are  you  dreaming  of?  "  asked  Marion. 

"An  excursion  he  made  this  morning  down  the  coast, 
sketching  or  pretending  to  sketch.  Nelly  and  I  saw  him 
clambering  up  the  side  of  a  cliff  —  " 

"Oh,  quite  impossible;  you  must  be  mistaken." 

"No,"  said  Nelly,  "there  was  no  mistake.  I  saw  him  as 
plainly  as  I  see  you  now;  besides,  it  is  not  in  these  wild 
regions  so  distinguished  a  figure  is  like  to  find  its  coun- 
terpart." 

"  But  why  should  he  not  take  his  walk  ?  why  not  sketch, 
or  amuse  himself  in  any  way  he  pleased?"  asked  Temple. 


138  THE.  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"Of  course  it  was  open  to  him  to  do  so,"  said  the  Colonel; 
"  only  that  to  excuse  his  absence  he  ought  not  to  have  made 
a  pretext  of  being  ill." 

"I  think  men  are  411'  just  as  they  are  'out,'"  said 
Temple.  "  I  am  ill  if  I  am  asked  to  do  what  is  disagree- 
able to  me,   as  I  am  out  to  the  visit  of  a  bore." 

"So  that  to  dine  with  us  was  disagreeable  to  Lord 
Culduff?"  asked  Jack. 

"  It  was  evidently  either  an  effort  to  task  his  strength,  or 
an  occasion  which  called  for  more  exertion  than  he  felt 
equal  to,"  said  Temple,   pompously. 

"By  Jove!"  cried  Jack,  "I  hope  I'll  never  be  a  great 
man!  I  trust  sincerely  /may  never  arrive  at  that  eminence 
in  which  it  will  task  my  energies  to  eat  my  dinner  and  chat 
with  the  people  on  either  side  of  me." 

"Lord  Culdufl:  converses:  he  does  not  chat;  please  to 
note  the  distinction.   Jack." 

"  That 's  like  telling  me  he  does  n't  walk,  but  he  swaggers." 

It  was  fortunate  at  this  moment,  critical  enough  as  re- 
garded the  temper  of  all  parties,  that  Mr.  Cutbill  entered, 
full  of  apologies  for  being  late,  and  bursting  to  recount  the 
accidents  that  befell  him,  and  all  the  incidents  of  his  day. 
A  quick  glance  around  the  table  assured  him  of  Lord 
Culduff's  absence,  and  it  was  evident  from  the  sparkle  of 
his  eye  that  the  event  was  not  disagreeable  to  him. 

"Is  our  noble  friend  on  the  sick, list?  "  asked  he,  with  a 
smile. 

"Indisposed,"  said  Temple,  with  the  air  of  one  who  knew 
the  value  of  a  word  that  was  double-shotted. 

"I  've  got  news  that  will  soon  rally  him,"  continued  Cut- 
bill.  "  They  've  struck  a  magnificent  vein  this  morning, 
and  within  eighty  yards  of  the  surface.  Plmmys,  the 
/  Welsh  inspector,  pronounced  it  good  Cardiff,  and  says, 
from  the  depth  of  'the  lode,'  that  it  must  go  a  long  way." 

"  Harding  did  not  give  me  as  encouraging  news  yester- 
day," said  Colonel  Bramleigh,  with  a  dubious  smile. 

"My  tidings  date  from  this  morning  —  yesterday  was  the 
day  before  the  battle;  besides,  what  does  Harding  know 
about  coal ? " 

"He  knows  a  little   about  everything,"  said   Augustus. 


A  DULL  DINNER.  139 

"That  makes  all  the  difference.  What  people  want  is 
not  the  men  who  know  things  currently,  but  know  them 
well  and  thoroughly.  Eh,  Captain,"  said  he  to  Jack, 
"  what  would  you  say  to  popular  notions  about  the  navy  ?  " 

"Cutty's  right,"  said  Jack.  "Amateurship  is  all  hum- 
bug." 

"  Who  is  Long-worth ?  "  asked  Cutbill.  "Philip  Long- 
worth  ?  " 

"A  neighbor  of  ours;  we  are  not  acquainted,  but  we 
know  that  there  is  such  a  person,"  said  Colonel  Bramleigh. 

"He  opines,"  continued  Cutbill,  "that  this  vein  of  ours 
runs  direct  from  his  land,  and  1  suspect  he's  not  wrong; 
and  he  wants  to  know  what  we  mean  to  do, —  he  '11  either 
sell  or  buy.  He  came  over  this  morning  to  Kilmannock 
with  a  French  friend,  and  we  took  our  breakfast  together. 
Nice  fellows,  both  of  them,  and  wide  awake,  too ;  especially 
the  Frenchman.  He  was  with  Lesseps  in  Egypt,  in  what 
capacity  I  couldn't  find  out;  but  1  see  he's  a  shrewd 
fellow." 

"With  Lesseps? "  said  Colonel  Bramleigh,  showing  a 
quicker  and  more  eager  interest  than  before ;  for  his  lawyer 
had  told  him  that  the  French  claimant  to  his  property  had 
been  engaged  on  the  works  of  the  Suez  Canal. 

"Yes;  he  spoke  as  if  he  knew  Lesseps  well,  and  talked 
of  the  whole  undertaking  like  one  who  understood  it." 

"  And  what  is  he  doing  here  ?  " 

"  Writing  a  book,  I  fancy ;  an  Irish  tour,  —  one  of  those 
mock  sentimentalities  w^ith  bad  politics  and  false  morality 
Frenchmen  ventilate  about  England.  He  goes  poking  into 
the  cabins  and  asking  the  people  about  their  grievances; 
and  now  he  says  he  wants  to  hear  the  other  side,  and  learn 
what  the  gentlemen  say." 

"We  '11  have  to  ask  him  over  here,"  said  Colonel  Bram- 
leigh, coolly,  as  if  the  thought  had  occurred  to  him  then  for 
the  first  time. 

"He'll  amuse  you,  I  promise  you,"  said  Cutbill. 

"I'd  like  to  meet  him,"  said  Jack.  "I  had  the  ill-luck 
to  bowl  him  over  in  the  hunting-field,  and  cost  him  a  broken 
leg.     I  'd  like  to  make  all  the  excuses  in  my  power  to  him.'* 

"He  bears  no  malice  about  it;  he  said  it  was  all  his  own 


140  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

fault,  and  that  you  did  your  best  to  pick  him  up,  but  your 
horse  bolted  with  you." 

"Let's  have  him  to  dinner  by  all  means,"  said  Augustus; 
*'  and  now  that  Temple  has  made  a  formal  visit,  I  take  it 
we  might  invite  him  by  a  polite   note." 

"You  must  wait  till  he  returns  the  call,"  said  Marion, 
stiffly. 

"  Not  if  we  want  to  show  a  courteous  desire  to  make  his 
acquaintance,"  said  Temple.  "Attentions  can  be  measured 
as  nicely  and  as  minutely  as  medicaments." 

"All  I  say,"  said  Jack,  "is,  have  him  soon,  or  I  may 
chance  to  miss  him;  and  1  'm  rather  cui'ious  to  have  a  look 
at  him." 

Colonel  Bramleigh  turned  a  full  look  at  Jack,  as  though 
his  words  had  some  hidden  meaning  in  them ;  but  the  frank 
and  easy  expression  of  the  sailor's  face  reassured  him  at 
once. 

"I  hope  the  fellow  won't  put  us  in  his  book,"  said 
Temple.  "You  are  never  quite  safe  with  these  sort  of 
people." 

"Are  we  worth  recording?  "  asked  Jack,  with  a  laugh. 

Temple  was  too  indignant  to  make  any  answer,  and 
Cutbill  went  on:  "The  authorship  is  only  a  suspicion  of 
mine,  remember.  It  was  from  seeing  him  constantly  jot- 
ting down  little  odds  and  ends  in  his  note-book  that  I  came 
to  that  conclusion;  and  Frenchmen  are  not  much  given  to 
minute  inquiries  if  they  have  not  some  definite  object  in 
view." 

Again  was  Bramleigh's  attention  arrested;  but,  as  before, 
he  saw  that  the  speaker  meant  no  more  than  the  words  in 
their  simplest  acceptance  conveyed. 

A  violent  ringing  of  the  door-bell  startled  the  company ; 
and  after  a  moment's  pause  of  expectancy  a  servant  entered 
to  say  that  a  Government  messenger  had  arrived  with  some 
important  despatches  for  Lord  Culduff,  which  required 
personal  delivery  and  acceptance. 

"  Will  you  step  up,  Mr.  Cutbill,  and  see  if  his  Lordship  is 
In  his  room?" 

"I  '11  answer  for  it  he  's  not,"  said  Jack  to  his  father. 

Cutbill   rose,   however,   and   went   on   his   mission;    but 


A   DULL  DINNER.  141 

instead  of  returning  to  the  dining-room,  it  was  perceived 
that  he  proceeded  to  find  the  messenger,  and  conduct  him 
upstairs. 

"Well,  Nelly,"  said  Marion,  in  a  whisper,  "what  do  you 
say  now ;  is  it  so  certain  that  it  was  Lord  Culduff  you  saw 
this  morning  ?  " 

"I  don't  know  what  to  make  of  it.  I  was  fully  as  sure 
as  Jack  was.'* 

"I'll  wager  he's  been  offered  Paris,"  said  Temple, 
gravely. 

"Offered  Paris?"  cried  Jack;  "  what  do  you  mean?  " 

"I  mean  the  embassy,  of  course,"  replied  he,  contemp- 
tuously. "Without,"  added  he,  "they  want  him  in  the 
Cabinet." 

"And  is  it  really  by  men  like  this  the  country  is 
governed?"  said  Nelly,  with  a  boldness  that  seemed  the 
impulse  of  indignation. 

"I  'm  afraid  so,"  said  Marion,  scornfully.  "Mr.  Can- 
ning and  Lord  Palmerston  were  men  very  like  this,  —  were 
they  not.   Temple?" 

"Precisely;  Lord  Culduff  is  exactly  of  the  same  order, 
however  humble  the  estimate  Ellen  may  form  of  such 
people." 

"I  'm  all  impatience  for  the  news,"  said  Augustus.  "I 
wish  Cutbill  would  come  down  at  once." 

"I  '11  take  the  odds  that  he  goes  to  F.  O.,"  said  Temple. 

"What  the  deuce  could  he  do  in  China?"  cried  Jack, 
whose  ear  had  led  him  into  a  cruel  blunder. 

Temple  scarcely  smiled  at  what  savored  of  actual  irrev- 
erence, and  added,  "If  so,  I'll  ask  to  be  made  private 
secretary." 

"Mr.  Temple,  sir,  his  Lordship  would  be  glad  to  see  you 
upstairs  for  a  moment,"  said  a  footman,  entering.  And 
Temple  arose  and  left  the  room,  with  a  pride  that  might 
have  accompanied  him  if  summoned  to  a  cabinet  council. 

"More  mysteries  of  State,"  cried  Jack.  "I  declare, 
girls,  the  atmosphere  of  political  greatness  is  almost  suffo- 
cating me.     I  wonder  how  Cutty  stands  it!" 

A  general  move  into  the  draAving-room  followed  this 
speech;  and  as  Jack  sauntered  in  he  slipped  his  arm  within 


142  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

Nelly's  and  led  her  towards  a  window.  "I  can't  bear  this 
any  longer,  Nelly,  — I  must  trip  my  anchor  and  move  away. 
I  *d  as  soon  be  lieutenant  to  a  port  admiral  as  live  here. 
You're  all  grown  too  fine  for  me." 

''That's  not  it  at  all,  Jack,"  said  she,  smiling.  "I  see 
how  you  've  been  trying  to  bully  yourself  by  bullying  us 
this  hour  back;  but  it  will  be  all  right  to-morrow.  We  '11 
go  over  to  the  cottage  after  breakfast." 

''You  may;  I'll  not,  I  promise  you,"  said  he,  blushing 
deeply. 

"Yes,  you  will,  my  dear  Jack,"  said  she,  coaxingly; 
"and  you  '11  be  the  first  to  laugh  at  your  own  foolish  jealousy 
besides, —  if  Julia  is  not  too  angry  with  you  to  make  laugh- 
ing possible." 

"She  may  be  angry  or  pleased,  it 's  all  one  to  me  now," 
said  he,  passionately.  "When  I  told  her  she  was  a  coquette, 
I  did  n't  believe  it;  but,  by  Jove,  she  has  converted  me  to 
the  opinion  pretty  quicklyl" 

"You  're  a  naughty  boy,  and  you  're  in  a  bad  humor,  and 
I'll  say  no  more  to  you  now." 

"Say  it  now,  I  advise  you,  if  you  mean  to  say  it,"  said 
he,  shortly;  but  she  laughed  at  his  serious  face,  and  turned 
away  without  speaking. 

"Is  n't  the  cabinet  council  sitting  late?"  asked  Augustus 
of  Marion.  "They  have  been  nigh  two  hours  in  con- 
ference." 

"I  take  it  it  must  be  something  of  importance,"  replied 
she. 

"Isn't  Cutbill  in  it?"  asked  Augustus,  mockingly. 

"I  saw  Mr.  Cutbill  go  down  the  avenue,  with  his  cigar  in 
his  mouth,  just  after  we  came  into  the  drawing-room." 

"I  '11  go  and  try  to  pump  him,"  said  Jack.  "One  might 
do  a  grand  thing  on  the  Stock  Exchange  if  he  could  get  at 
State  secrets  like  these."  And  as  Jack  went  out  a  silence 
fell  over  the  party,  only  broken  by  the  heavy  breathing  of 
Colonel  Bramleigh  as  he  slept  behind  his  newspaper.  At 
last  the  door  opened  gently,  and  Temple  moved  quietly 
across  the  room,  and  tapping  his  father  on  the  shoulder, 
whispered  something  in  his  ear.  "What  —  eh?"  cried 
Colonel  Bramleigh,   waking  up.     "Did   you  say  'out'?" 


A   DULL  DINNER.  143 

Another  whisper  eusued,  and  the  Colonel  arose  and  left  the 
room,  followed  by  Temple. 

"Isn't  Temple  supremely  diplomatic  to-night?"  said 
Nelly. 

"I'm  certain  he  is  behaving  with  every  becoming  reserve 
and  decorum,"  said  Marion,  in  a  tone  of  severe  rebuke. 

When  Colonel  Bramleigh  entered  the  library,  Temple 
closed  and  locked  the  door,  and  in  a  voice  of  some  emotion 
said,  "Poor  Lord  Culduff ;  it  's  a  dreadful  blow.  I  don't 
know  how  he'll  bear  up  against  it." 

"I  don't  understand  it,"  said  Bramleigh,  peevishly. 
"What 's  this  about  a  change  of  Ministry  and  a  dissolution? 
Did  you  tell  me  the  Parliament  was  dissolved?" 

"No,  sir.  I  said  that  a  dissolution  was  probable.  The 
Ministry  have  been  sorely  pressed  in  the  Lords  about 
Culduff's  appointment,  and  a  motion  to  address  the  Crown 
to  cancel  it  has  only  been  met  by  a  majority  of  three.  So 
small  a  victory  amounts  to  a  defeat,  and  the  Premier  writes 
to  beg  Lord  Culduff  will  at  once  send  in  his  resignation,  as 
the  only  means  to  save  the  party." 

"Well,  if  it's  the  only  thing  to  do,  why  not  do  it?  " 

"Culduff  takes  a  quite  different  view  of  it.  He  says  that 
to  retire  is  to  abdicate  his  position  in  public  life;  that  it 
was  Lord  Rigglesworth's  duty  to  stand  by  a  colleague  to 
the  last;  that  every  Minister  makes  it  a  point  of  honor  to 
defend  a  subordinate;  and  that —  " 

"I  only  half  follow  you.  What  was  the  ground  of  the 
attack?  Had  he  fallen  into  any  blunder, —  made  an}^  serious 
mistake?  " 

"Nothing  of  the  kind,  sir;  they  actually  complimented 
his  abilities,  and  spoke  of  his  rare  capacity.  It  was  one  of 
those  bursts  of  hypocrisy  we  have  every  now  and  then  in 
public  life,  to  show  the  world  how  virtuous  we  are.  They 
raked  up  an  old  story  of  thirty  years  ago  of  some  elopement 
or  other,  and  affected  to  see  in  this  escapade  a  reason 
against  his  being  employed  to  represent  the  Crown." 

"I  'm  not  surprised  —  not  at  all  surprised.  There  is  a 
strong  moral  feeling  in  the  heart  of  the  nation,  that  no  man, 
however  great  his  abilities,  can  outrage  with  impunity." 

"If  they  dealt  with  him  thus  hardly  in  the  Lords,  we  can 


144  THE   BRAMLEIGPIS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

fancy  how  he  will  be  treated  in  the  Lower  House,  where 
_Rigby  Norton  has  given  notice  of  a  motion  respecting  his 
appointment.  As  Lord  Rigglesworth  writes,  *R.  N.  has  got 
up  your  whole  biography,  and  is  fully  bent  on  making  you 
the  theme  of  one  of  his  amusing  scurrilities.  Is  it  wise,  is 
it  safe  to  risk  this?  He'll  not  persevere  —  he  could  not 
persevere  —  in  his  motion,  if  you  send  in  your  resignation. 
We  could  not  —  at  least  so  Gore,  our  whip,  says  —  be  sure 
of  a  majority  were  we  to  divide;  and  even  a  majority  of, 
say  thirty,  to  proclaim  you  moral,  would  only  draw  the 
whole  press  to  open  your  entire  life,  and  make  the  world 
ring  with  your,  I  suppose,  very  common  and  every-day 
iniquities.'  '* 

"I  declare  I  do  not  see  what  can  be  alleged  against  this 
advice.     It  seems  to  me  most  forcible  and  irrefragable." 

''Very  forcible,  as  regards  the  position  of  the  Cabinet; 
but,  as  Lord  Culduff  says,  ruin,  positive  ruin  to  him." 

"Ruin  of  his  own  causing." 

Temple  shrugged  his  shoulders  in  a  sort  of  contemptuous 
impatience;  the  sentiment  was  one  not  worth  a  reply. 

"At  all  events,  has  he  any  other  course  open  to  him?  " 

"He  thinks  he  has;  at  least,  he  thinks  that,  with  your 
help  and  co-operation,  there  may  be  another  course.  The 
attack  is  to  come  from  below  the  gangway  on  the  Opposi- 
tion side.  It  was  to  sit  with  these  men  you  contested  a 
county,  and  spent  nigh  twenty  thousand  pounds.  You  have 
great  claims  on  the  party.  You  know  them  all  personally, 
and  have  much  influence  with  them.  Why,  then,  not 
employ  it  in  his  behalf?" 

"To  suppress  the  motion,  you  mean?" 

Temple  nodded. 

"They  'd  not  listen  to  it,  not  endure  it  for  a  moment. 
Norton  would  n't  give  up  an  attack  for  which  he  had  pre- 
pared himself  if  he  were  to  find  out,  in  the  interval,  that  the 
object  of  it  was  an  angel.  As  I  heard  him  say  one  day  at 
'the  Reform,'  'Other  men  have  their  specialities.  One  fel- 
low takes  sugar,  one  the  malt-duties,  one  Servia,  or  may- 
be, Ireland;  my  line  is  a  good  smashing  personality.  Show 
me  a  fellow  —  of  course  I  mean  a  political  opponent  —  who 
has  been  giving  himself  airs  as  a  colonial   governor,   or 


A   DULL  DINNER.  145 

"swelling  "  it  as  a  special  envoy  at  a  foreign  court,  and  if 
I  don't  find  something  in  his  despatches  to  exhibit  him  as 
a  false  prophet,  a  dupe,  or  a  blunderer,  and  if  I  can't  make 
the  House  laugh  at  him,  don't  call  me  Rigby  Norton.'  He 
knows  he  does  these  things  better  than  any  man  in  Eng- 
land, and  he  does  them  in  a  spirit  that  never  makes  him  an 
enemy." 

"Culduff  says  that  N.  is  terribly  hard  up.  He  was  hit 
heavily  at  Goodwood,  and  asked  for  time  to  pay." 

"Just  what  he  has  been  doing  for  the  last  twenty  years. 
There  are  scores  of  ships  that  no  underwriters  would  accept 
making  safe  voyages  half  across  the  globe.  No,  no;  he  'II 
rub  on  for  many  a  day,  in  the  same  fashion.  Besides,  if 
he  shouldn't,   what  then?" 

Temple  made  a  significant  gesture  with  his  thumb  in  the 
palm  of  his  hand. 

"That's  all  your  noble  friend,  knows  about  England, 
then.  See  what  comes  of  a  man  passing  his  life  among 
foreigners.  I  suppose  a  Spanish  or  an  Italian  deputy 
might  n't  give  much  trouble,  nor  oppose  any  strenuous 
resistance  to  such  a  dealing;  but  it  won't  do  here, —  it  will 
not." 

"Lord  Culduff  knows  the  world  as  well  as  most  men,  sir." 

"Yes,  one  world,  I  'm  sure  he  does!  A  world  of  essenced 
old  dandies  and  painted  dowagers,  surrounded  by  thieving 
lackeys  and  cringing  followers;  where  everything  can  be 
done  by  bribery,  and  nothing  without  it.  But  that's  not 
England,  I'm  proud  to  say;  nor  will  it  be,  I  hope,  for 
many  a  day  to  come." 

"I  wish,  sir,  you  could  be  induced  to  give  your  aid  to 
Culduff  in  this  matter.  I  need  not  say  what  an  influence  it 
would  exert  over  my  own  fortunes." 

"You  must  win  your  way.  Temple,  by  your  own  merits," 
said  he,  haughtily.  "I  'd  be  ashamed  to  think  that  a  son 
of  mine  owed  any  share  of  his  success  in  life  to  ignoble 
acts  or  backstairs  influence.  Go  back  and  tell  Lord  Culduff 
from  me,  that  so  far  as  I  know  it.  Lord  Rigglesworth's 
advice  is  my  own.  No  wise  man  ever  courts  a  public 
scandal;  and  he  would  be  less  than  wise  to  confront  one, 
with  the  certainty  of  being  overwhelmed  by  it." 
10 


146  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"Will  you  see  him,  sir?  Will  you  speak  to  him  your- 
self?" 

"I  'd  rather  not.  It  would  be  a  needless  pain  to  each 
of  us." 

"I  suspect  he  means  to  leave  this  to-night." 

"Not  the  worst  thing  he  could  do." 

"But  you  '11  see  him,  to  say  good-bye?  " 

"Certainly;  and  all  the  more  easily  if  we  have  no  con- 
versation in  the  mean  while.  Who's  that  knocking?  Is 
the  door  locked  ?  " 

Temple  hastened  to  open  the  door,  and  found  Mr.  Cutbill 
begging  to  have  five  minutes'  conversation  with  Colonel 
Bramleigh. 

"Leave  us  together.  Temple,  and  tell  Marion  to  send 
me  in  some  tea.  You  '11  have  tea,  too,  won't  you,  Mr. 
Cutbill?" 

"No,  thank  you;  I  '11  ask  for  wine  and  water  later.  At 
present  I  want  a  little  talk  with  you.  Our  noble  friend  has 
got  it  hot  and  heavy,"  said  he,  as  Temple  withdrew,  leav- 
ing Bramleigh  and  himself  together;  "but  it's  nothing  to 
what  will  come  out  when  Norton  brings  it  before  the  House. 
I  suppose  there  has  n't  been  such  a  scandal  for  years  as 
he  '11  make  of  it." 

"I  declare,  Mr.  Cutbill,  as  long  as  the  gentleman  con- 
tinues my  guest,  I  'd  rather  avoid  than  invite  any  discus- 
sion of  his  antecedents,"  said  Bramleigh,  pompously. 

"All  very  fine,  if  you  could  stop  the  world  from  talking 
of  them." 

"My  son  has  just  been  with  me,  and  I  have  said  to  him, 
sir,  as  I  have  now  repeated  to  you,  that  it  is  a  theme  I  will 
not  enter  upon." 

"Y"ou  won't,  won't  you?" 

"No,  sir,  I  will  not." 

"The  more  fool  you,  then,  that's  all." 

"What,  sir,  am  I  to  be  told  this  to  my  face,  under  my 
own  roof?  Can  you  presume  to  address  these  words  to 
me?" 

"I  meant  nothing  offensive.  Y^ou  needn't  look  like  a 
turkey-cock.  All  the  gobble-gobble  in  the  world  would  n't 
frighten  vie.     I  came  in  here  in  a  friendly  spirit.     I  was 


A   DULL   DINNER.  147 

handsomely  treated  in  this  house,  and  I  'd  like  to  make  a 
return  for  it;  that's  why  I'm  here,  Bramleigh." 

"  You  will  pardon  me  if  I  do  not  detect  the  friendliness 
you  speak  of  in  the  words  you  have  just  uttered." 

"Perhaps  I  was  a  little  too  blunt  —  a  little  too  —  what 
shall  I  call  it?  —  abrupt;  but  what  I  wanted  to  say  was 
this:  here's  the  nicest  opportunity  in  the  world,  not  only 
to  help  a  lame  dog  over  the  stile,  but  to  make  a  good  hound 
of  him  afterwards." 

"I  protest,  sir,  I  cannot  follow  you.  Your  bluntness,  as 
you  call  it,   was  at  least  intelligible." 

"Don't  be  in  a  passion.  Keep  cool,  and  listen  to  me. 
If  this  motion  is  made  about  Culduff,  and  comes  to  a 
debate,  there  will  be  such  stories  told  as  would  smash  forty 
reputations.  I  'd  like  to  see  which  of  us  would  come  well 
out  of  a  biography,  treated  as  a  party  attack  in  the  House 
of  Commons.  At  all  events  he  could  n't  face  it.  Stand  by 
him,  then,  and  get  him  through  it.  Have  patience;  just 
hear  what  I  have  to  say.  The  thing  can  be  done;  there  's 
eight  days  to  come  before  it  can  be  brought  on.  I  know 
the  money-lender  has  three  of  Norton's  acceptances  —  for 
heavy  sums,  two  of  them.  Do  you  see  now  what  I  'm 
driving  at?  " 

"I  may  possibly  see  so  much,  sir,  but  I  am  unable  to  see 
why  I  should  move  in  the  matter." 

"I'll  show  you,  then.  The  noble  Viscount  is  much 
smitten  by  a  certain  young  lady  upstairs,  and  intends  to 
propose  for  her.  Yes,  I  know  it,  and  I  '11  vouch  for  it. 
Your  eldest  daughter  may  be  a  peeress,  and  though  the  hus- 
band isn't  very  young,  neither  is  the  title.  I  think  he  said 
he  was  the  eighth  lord, —  seventh  or  eighth,  I  'm  not  sure 
which, —  and  taking  the  rank  and  the  coal-mine  together, 
don't  you  think  she  might  do  worse?" 

"I  will  say,  sir,  that  frankness  like  yours  I've  never  met 
before." 

"That 's  the  very  thing  I  'd  like  to  hear  you  say  of  me. 
There 's  no  quality  I  pride  myself  on  so  much  as  my 
candor." 

"You  have  ample  reason,  sir." 

"I  feel  it.     I  know  it.     Direct  lines  and  a  wide  gauge  — 


148  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

I  inenQ  in  the  way  of  liberality, —  that 's  my  motto.  I  go 
straight  to  my  terminus,   wherever  it  is." 

"  It  is  not  every  man  can  make  his  profession  the  efficient 
ally  of  his  morality." 

"An  engineer  can,  and  there's  nothing  so  like  life  as  a 
new  line  of  railroad.  But  to  come  back.  You  see  now 
how  the  matter  stands.  If  the  arrangement  suits  you,  the 
thing  can  be  done." 

"  You  have  a  very  business-like  way  of  treating  these 
themes." 

"If  I  had  n't,  I  could  n't  treat  them  at  all.  What  I  say 
to  myself  is,  Will  it  pay?  first  of  all;  and  secondly.  How 
much  will  it  pay?  And  that's  the  one  test  for  everything. 
Have  the  divines  a  more  telling  argument  against  a  life  of 
worldliness  and  self-indulgence  than  when  they  ask.  Will 
it  pay?  We  contract  for  everything,  even  for  going  to 
heaven." 

"If  I  could  hope  to  rival  your  eminently  practical  spirit, 
Mr.  Cutbill,  I  'd  ask  how  far  —  to  what  extent  —  has  Lord 
Culduff  made  you  the  confidant  of  his  intentions?" 

"Y'ou  mean,  has  he  sent  me  here  this  evening  to  make  a 
proposal  to  you  ?  " 

"No,  not  exactly  that;  but  has  he  intimated,  has  he 
declared  —  for  intimation  would  n't  suffice  —  has  he  declared 
his  wish  to  be  allied  to  my  family?" 

"He  did  n't  say,  'Cutbill,  go  down  and  make  a  tender  in 
my  name  for  her,'   if  you  mean  that." 

"I  opine  not,  sir,"  said  Bramleigh,  haughtily. 

"But  when  I  tell  you  it's  all  right,"  said  Cutbill,  with 
one  of  his  most  knowing  looks,  "I  think  that  ought  to  do." 

"I  take  it,  sir,  that  you  mean  courteously  and  fairly  by 
me.  I  feel  certain  that  you  have  neither  the  wish  nor  the 
intention  to  pain  me;  but  I  am  forced  to  own  that  you 
import  into  questions  of  a  delicate  nature  a  spirit  of  com- 
mercial profit  and  loss,  which  makes  all  discussion  of  them 
harsh  and  disagreeable.  This  is  not,  let  me  observe  to 
you,  a  matter  of  coal,  or  a  new  cutting  on  a  railroad." 

"  And  are  you  going  to  tell  Tom  Cutbill  that  out  of  his 
own  line  of  business, —  when  he  isn't  up  to  his  knees  in 
earthworks,  and  boring  a  tunnel, —  that  he  's  a  fool  and  a 
nincompoop  ?  " 


A   DULL   DINNER.  149 

"I  should  be  sorry  to  express  such  a  sentiment." 

"Ay,  or  feel  it;  why  don't  you  say  that?  '* 

"  I  will  go  even  so  far,  sir,  and  say  I  should  be  sorry  to 
feel  it." 

"That's  enough.  No  offence  meant;  none  is  taken. 
Here 's  how  it  is  now.  Authorize  me  to  see  Joel  about 
those  bills  of  Norton's.  Give  me  what  the  French  call  a 
carte  blanche  to  negotiate,  and  I  '11  promise  you  I'll  not 
throw  your  ten-pound  notes  away.  Not  that  it  need  ever 
come  to  ten-pound  notes,  for  Rigby  does  these  things  for 
the  pure  fun  of  them ;  and  if  any  good  fellow  drops  in  on 
him  of  a  morning,  and  says,  'Don't  raise  a  hue  and  cry 
about  that  poor  beggar,'  or  'Don't  push  that  fellow  over  the 
cliff,'  he  's  just  the  man  to  say,  'Well,  I  '11  not  go  on.  I  '11 
let  it  stand  over;'  or  he  '11  even  get  up  and  say,  'When  1  asked 
leave  to  put  this  question  to  the  right  honorable  gentleman, 
I  fully  believed  in  the  authentic  character  of  the  informa- 
tion in  my  possession.  I  have,  however,  since  then  dis- 
covered,'—  this,  that,  and  the  other.  Don't  you  know  how 
these  things  always  finish?  There's  a  great  row,  a  great 
hubbub,  and  the  man  that  retracts  is  always  cheered  by 
both  sides  of  the  House." 

"Suppose,  then,  he  withdraws  his  motion, —  what  then? 
The  discussion  in  the  Lords  remains  on  record,  and  the 
mischief,  so  far  as  Lord  Culduff  is  concerned,  is  done." 

"I  know  that.  He'll  not  have  his  appointment;  he'll 
take  his  pension  and  wait.  What  he  sa^'s  is  this:  'There 
are  only  three  diplomatists  in  all  England,  and  short  of  a 
capital  felony,  any  of  the  three  may  do  anything.  I  have 
only  to  stand  out  and  sulk,'  says  he,  'and  they'll  be  on 
their  knees  to  me  yet.'" 

"He  yields,  then,  to  a  passing  hurricane,"  said  Bram- 
leigh,   pompously. 

"Just  so.  He  's  taking  shelter  under  an  archway  till  he 
can  call  a  hansom.  Now  you  have  the  whole  case ;  and  as 
talking  is  dry  work,  might  I  ring  for  a  glass  of  sherry  and 
seltzer?" 

"  By  all  means.  I  am  ashamed  not  to  have  thought  of  it 
before.  —  This  is  a  matter  for  much  thought  and  delibera- 
tion," said  Bramleigh,  as  the  servant  withdrew,  after  bring- 


150  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

iug  the  wine.  "It  is  too  eventful  a  stejD  to  be  taken 
suddenly." 

"If  not  done  promptly,  it  can't  be  done  at  all.  A  week 
is  n't  a  long  time  to  go  up  to  town  and  get  through  a  very 
knotty  negotiation.  Joel  is  n't  a  common  money-lender, 
like  Drake  or  Downie.  You  can't  go  to  his  office  except 
on  formal  business.  If  you  want  to  do  a  thing  in  the  way 
of  accommodation  with  him,  you  '11  have  to  take  him  down 
to  the  'Ship,'  and  give  him  a  nice  little  fish  dinner,  with 
the  very  best  Sauterne  you  can  find  ;  and  when  you  're 
sitting  out  on  the  balcony  over  the  black  mud, —  the  favorite 
spot  men  smoke  their  cheroots  in, —  then  open  your  busi- 
ness; and  though  he  knows  well  it  was  all  'a  plant,'  he  '11 
not  resent  it,   but  take  it  kindly  and  well." 

"I  am  certain  that  so  nice  a  negotiation  could  not  be  in 
better  hands  than  yours,   Mr.  Cutbill." 

"Well,  perhaps  I  might  say  without  vanity,  it  might  be 
in  worse.  So  much  for  that  part  of  the  matter;  now,  as  to 
the  noble  Viscount  himself.  I  am  speaking  as  a  man  of 
the  world  to  another  man  of  the  world,  and  speaking  in 
confidence,  too.  Yoii  don't  join  in  that  hypocritical  cant 
against  Culduff,  because  he  had  once  in  his  life  been  what 
they  call  a  man  of  gallantry?  I  mean,  Bramleigh,  that  you 
don't  go  in  for  that  outrageous  humbug  of  spotless  virtue, 
and  the  rest  of  it?" 

Bramleigh  smiled,  and  as  he  passed  his  hand  over  his 
mouth  to  hide  a  laugh,  the  twinkle  of  his  eyes  betrayed 
him. 

"I  believe  I  am  old  enough  to  know  that  one  must  take 
the  world  as  it  is  pleased  to  present  itself,"  said  he, 
cautiously. 

"  And  not  wdnt  to  think  it  better  or  worse  than  it  really 
is?" 

Bramleigh  nodded  assent. 

"  Now  we  understand  each  other,  as  I  told  you  the  other 
evening  we  were  sure  to  do  when  we  had  seen  more  of  each 
other.  Culduff  is  n't  a  saint,  but  he  's  a  peer  of  Parlia- 
ment; he  isn't  young,  but  he  has  an  old  title,  and  if  I'm 
not  much  mistaken,  he  '11  make  a  pot  of  money  out  of  this 
mine.     Such  a  man  has  only  to  go  down    into  the   Black 


A   DULL  DINNER.  151 

Country  or  amongst  the  mills,  to  have  his  choice  of  some 
of  the  best-looking  girls  in  England,  with  a  quarter  of  a 
million  of  money;   isn't  that  fact?" 

"It  is  pretty  like  it." 

"So  that,  on  the  whole,  I'll  say  this  is  a  good  thing, 
Bramleigh  —  a  right  good  thing.  As  Wishart  said  the 
other  night  in  the  House,  'A  new  country  ' — speaking  of 
the  States  —  'a  new  country  wants  alliances  with  old 
States;  '  so  a  new  family  wants  connection  with  the  old 
historic  houses." 

Colonel  Bramleigh's  face  grew  crimson,  but  he  coughed 
to  keep  down  his  rising  indignation,  and  slightly  bowed 
his  head. 

"  You  know  as  well  as  /do,  that  the  world  has  only  two 
sorts  of  people,  —  nobs  and  snobs ;  one  has  no  choice  —  if 
you're  not  one,   you  must  be  the  other." 

"And  yet,  sir,  men  of  mind  and  intellect  have  written 
about  the  untitled  nobility  of  England." 

"Silver  without  the  hall-mark,  Bramleigh,  won't  bring 
six  shillings  an  ounce,  just  because  nobody  can  say  how 
far  it's  adulterated;  it's  the  same  with  people." 

"Your  tact,  sir,  is  on  a  par  with  your  wisdom." 

"And  perhaps  you  haven't  a  high  opinion  of  either," 
said  Cutbill,  with  a  laugh  that  showed  he  felt  no  irritation 
whatever.  "  But  look  here,  Bramleigh,  this  will  never  do. 
If  there  's  nothing  but  blarney  or  banter  between  us,  we  '11 
never  come  to  business.  If  you  agree  to  what  I  've  been 
proposing,  you  have  only  me  to  deal  with;  the  noble  lord 
is  n't  in  the  game  at  all  —  he  '11  leave  this  to-night —  it 's 
right  and  proper  he  should;  he  '11  go  up  to  the  mines  for  a 
few  days,  and  amuse  himself  with  quartz  and  red  sand- 
stone; and  when  I  write  or  telegraph, —  most  likely  tele- 
graph,— 'The  thing  is  safe,'  he  '11  come  back  here  and  make 
his  proposal  in  all  form." 

"I  am  most  willing  to  give  my  assistance  to  any  project 
that  may  rescue  Lord  Culduff  from  this  unpleasant  predica- 
ment. Indeed,  having  myself  experienced  some  of  the 
persecution  which  political  hatred  can  carry  into  private 
life,  I  feel  a  sort  of  common  cause  with  him ;  but  I  protest 
at  the  same  time  —  distinctly  protest  —  against  anything 


152  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

like  a  pledge  as  regards  his  Lordship's  views  towards  one  of 
my  family.     I  mean  I  give  no  promise." 

"I  see,"  said  Cutbill,  with  a  look  of  intense  cunning. 
"You'll  do  the  money  part.  Providence  will  take  charge 
of  the  rest.     Isn't  that  it?" 

"Mr.  Cutbill,  you  occasionally  push  my  patience  pretty 
hard.     What  I  said,  I  said  seriously  and  advisedly." 

"Of  course.  Now,  then,  give  me  a  line  to  your  banker  to 
acknowledge  my  draft  up  to  a  certain  limit,  —  say  five  hun- 
dred.    I  think  five  ought  to  do  it." 

"It's  a  smart  sum,  Mr.   Cutbill." 

"The  article's  cheap  at  the  money.  Well,  well,  I'll  not 
anger  you.     Write  me  the  order,  and  let  me  be  off." 

Bramleigh  sat  down  at  his  table,  and  wrote  off  a  short 
note  to  his  junior  partner  in  the  bank,  which  he  sealed  and 
addressed;  and  handing  it  to  Cutbill,  said,  "This  will 
credit  you  to  the  amount  you  spoke  of.  It  will  be  advanced 
to  you  as  a  loan  without  interest,  to  be  repaid  within  two 
years." 

"  All  right ;  the  thought  of  repayment  will  never  spoil  my 
night's  rest.  I  only  wish  all  my  debtk  would  give  me  as 
little  trouble." 

"You  ought  to  have  none,  Mr.  Cutbill;  a  man  of  your 
abilities,  at  the  top  of  a  great  profession,  and  with  a  reputa- 
tion second  to  none,  should,  if  he  were  commonly  prudent, 
have  ample  means  at  his  disposal." 

"But  that 's  the  thing  I  am  not,  Bramleigh.  I  'm  not  one 
of  your  safe  fellows.  I  drive  my  engine  at  speed,  even 
where  the  line  is  shaky  and  the  rails  ill-laid.  Good-bye; 
my  respects  to  the  ladies;  tell  Jack,  if  he  's  in  town  within 
a  week,  to  look  me  up  at  'Limmer's.'"  He  emptied  the 
sherry  into  a  tumbler  as  he  spoke,  drank  it  off,  and  left  the 
room. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 


A    DEPARTURE. 


Some  days  had  gone  over  since  the  scene  just  recorded  in 
our  last  chapter,  and  the  house  at  Castello  presented  a  very 
different  aspect  from  its  late  show  of  movement  and  pleasure. 

Lord  Culduff,  on  the  pretence  of  his  presence  being  re- 
quired at  the  mines,  had  left  on  the  same  night  that  Cutbill 
took  his  departure  for  England.  On  the  morning  after.  Jack 
also  went  away.  He  had  passed  the  night  writing  and  burn- 
ing letters  to  Julia ;  for  no  sooner  had  he  finished  an  epistle, 
than  he  found  it  too  cruel,  too  unforgiving,  too  unfeeling, 
by  half;  and  when  he  endeavored  to  moderate  his  just 
anger,  he  discovered  signs  of  tenderness  in  his  reproaches 
that  savored  of  submission.  It  would  not  be  quite  fair  to  be 
severe  on  Jack's  failures,  trying  as  he  was  to  do  what  has 
puzzled  much  wiser  and  craftier  heads  than  his.  To  convey 
all  the  misery  he  felt  at  parting  from  her,  with  a  just  meas- 
ure of  reproach  for  her  levity  towards  him,  to  mete  out  his 
love  and  his  anger  in  due  doses,  to  say  enough,  but  never 
too  much,  and  finally  to  let  her  know  that,  though  he  went 
off  in  a  huff,  it  was  to  carry  her  image  in  his  heart  through 
all  his  wanderings,  never  forgetting  her  for  a  moment, 
whether  he  was  carrying  despatches  to  Cadiz  or  coaling 
at  Corfu,  —  to  do  all  these,  T  say,  becomingly  and  well, 
was  not  an  easy  task,  and  especially  for  one  who  would 
rather  have  been  sent  to  cut  out  a  frigate  under  the  ^uns 
of  a  fortress  than  indite  a  despatch  to  "  my  Lords  of  the 
Admiralty." 

From  the  short  sleep  which  followed  all  his  abortive  at- 
tempts at  a  letter  he  was  awakened  by  his  servant  telling 
him  it  was  time  to  dress  and  be  off.  Drearier  moments 
there  are  not  in  life  than  those  which  herald  in  a  departure 
of  a  dark  morning  in  winter,  with  the  rain  swooping  in  vast 


154  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

sheets  against  the  window-panes,  and  the  cold  blast  whist- 
ling through  the  leafless  trees.  Never  do  the  caudles  seem 
to  throw  so  little  light  as  these  do  now  through  the  dreary 
room,  all  littered  and  disordered  by  the  preparations  for  the 
road.  What  fears  and  misgivings  beset  one  at  such  a  mo- 
ment !  What  reluctance  to  go,  and  what  a  positive  sense  of 
fear  one  feels,  as  though  the  journey  were  a  veritable  leap 
in  the  dark,  and  that  the  whole  fortunes  of  a  life  were  de- 
pendent on  that  instant  of  resolution  ! 

Poor  Jack  tried  to  battle  with  such  thoughts  as  these  by 
reminding  himself  of  his  duty,  and  the  calls  of  the  service ; 
he  asked  himself  again  and  again  if  it  were  out  of  such 
vacillating,  wavering  materials,  a  sailor's  heart  should  be 
fashioned?  was  this  the  stuff  that  made  Nelsons  or  Colling- 
woods  ?  And  though  there  was  but  little  immediate  prospect 
of  a  career  of  distinction,  his  sense  of  duty  taught  him  to 
feel  that  the  routine  life  of  peace  was  a  greater  trial  to  a 
man's  patience  than  all  the  turmoil  and  bustle  of  active 
service. 

''The  more  I  cling  to  remain  here,"  muttered  he,  as  he 
descended  the  stairs,  "  the  more  certain  am  I  that  it's  pure 
weakness  and  folly." 

"What's  that  you  are  muttering  about  weakness  and 
folly,  Jack?"  said  Nelly,  who  had  got  up  to  see  him  off, 
and  give  him  the  last  kiss  before  he  departed. 

"  How  came  it  you  are  here,  Nelly?  Get  back  to  your 
bed,  gu'l,  or  you  '11  catch  a  terrible  cold." 

"  No,  no.  Jack  ;  I  'm  well  shawled  and  muffled.  I  wanted 
to  say  good-bye  once  more.  Tell  me  what  it  was  you  were 
saying  about  weakness  and  folly." 

"  I  was  assuring  myself  that  my  reluctance  to  go  away 
was  nothing  less  than  folly.  I  was  trying  to  persuade  my- 
self that  the  best  thing  I  could  do  was  to  be  off ;  but  I  won't 
say  I  have  succeeded." 

"But  it  is,  Jack;  rely  on  it,  it  is.  You  are  doing  the 
right  thing ;  and  if  I  say  so,  it  is  with  a  heavy  heart,  for  I 
shall  be  very  lonely  after  you." 

Passing  his  arm  round  her  waist,  he  walked  with  her  up 
and  down  the  great  spacious  hall,  their  slow  footsteps  echo- 
ing in  the  silent  house. 


A  DEPARTURE.  155 

*'  If  my  last  meeting  with  her  had  not  been  such  as  it  was, 
Nelly,"  said  he,  falteringly  ;  "  if  we  had  not  parted  in  anger, 
I  think  I  could  go  with  a  lighter  heart." 

"But  don't  you  know  Julia  well  enough  to  know  that 
these  little  storms  of  temper  pass  away  so  rapidly  that  they 
never  leave  a  trace  behind  them?  She  was  angry,  not  be- 
cause you  found  fault  with  her,  but  because  she  thought 
you  had  suffered  yourself  to  be  persuaded  she  was  in  the 
wrong." 

"What  do  I  care  for  these  subtleties?  She  ought  to 
have  kuown  that  when  a  man  loves  a  girl  as  I  love  her,  he 
has  a  right  to  tell  her  frankly  if  there's  anything  in  her 
manner  he  is  dissatisfied  with." 

"  He  has  no  such  right;  and  if  he  had,  he  ought  to  be 
very  careful  how  he  exercised  it." 

"  And  why  so?" 

"  Just  because  fault-finding  is  not  love-making." 

"  So  that,  no  matter  what  he  saw  that  he  disliked  or  dis- 
approved of,  he  ought  to  bear  it  all  rather  than  risk  the 
chance  of  his  remonstrance  being  ill  taken?" 

"Not  that.  Jack;  but  he  ought  to  take  time  and  oppor- 
tunity to  make  the  same  remonstrance.  You  don't  go  down 
to  the  girl  you  are  in  love  with,  and  call  her  to  account  as 
you  would  summon  a  dockyardman  or  a  rigger  for  some- 
thing that  was  wrong  with  your  frigate." 

"  Take  an  illustration  from  something  you  know  better, 
Nelly,  for  I'd  do  nothing  of  the  kind;  but  if  I  saw  what, 
in  the  conduct  or  even  in  the  manner  of  the  girl  I  was  in 
love  with,  I  would  n't  stand  if  she  were  my  wife,  it  will  be 
hard  to  convince  me  that  I  oughtn't  to  tell  her  of  it." 

"As  I  said  before.  Jack,  the  telling  is  a  matter  of  time 
and  opportunity.  Of  all  the  jealousies  in  the  world  there 
is  none  as  inconsiderate  as  that  of  lovers  towards  the  outer 
world.  Whatever  change  either  may  wish  for  in  the  other 
must  never  come  suggested  from  without." 

"  And  didn't  I  tell  her  she  was  wrong  in  supposing  that 
it  was  Marion  made  me  see  her  coquetry?" 

"  That  you  thought  Marion  had  no  influence  over  your 
judgment  she  might  believe  readily  enough,  but  girls  have 
a  keener  insight  into  each  other  than  you  are  aware  of,  and 


156  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

she  was  annoyed  —  and  she  was  right  to  be  annoyed  —  that 
in  your  estimate  of  her  there  should  enter  anything,  the 
very  smallest,  that  could  bespeak  the  sort  of  impression  a 
woman  might  have  conve^^ed."  ^., 

"  Nelly,  all  this  is  too  deep  for  me.  If  Julia  cared  for 
me  as  1  believe  she  had,  she  'd  have  taken  what  I  said  in 
good  part.  Did  n't  I  give  up  smoking  of  a  morning,  except 
one  solitery  cheroot  after  breakfast,  when  she  asked  me? 
Who  ever  saw  me  take  a  nip  of  brandy  of  a  forenoon  since 
that  day  she  cried  out,  '  Shame,  Jack,  don't  do  that '  ?  And 
do  you  think  I  was  n't  as  fond  of  my  weed  and  my  glass  of 
schnapps  as  ever  she  was  of  all  those  little  airs  and  graces 
she  puts  on  to  make  fools  of  men  ?  " 

"Carriage  waiting,  sir,"  said  a  servant,  entering  with  a 
mass  of  cloaks  and  rugs  on  his  arm. 

"  Confound  the  carriage  and  the  journey  too,"  muttered 
be,  below  his  breath.  "  Look  here,  Nelly  ;  if  you  are  right, 
and  I  hope  with  all  my  heart  j^ou  are,  I  '11  not  go." 

"  That  would  be  ruin.  Jack ;  you  must  go." 

"What  do  I  care  for  the  service?  A  good  seaman  —  a 
fellow  that  knows  how  to  handle  a  ship  —  need  never  want 
for  employment.  I  'd  just  as  soon  be  a  skipper  as  wear  a 
pair  of  swabs  on  my  shoulders  and  be  sworn  at  by  some 
crusty  old  rear-admiral  for  a  stain  on  m}^  quarter-deck.  I'll 
not  go,  Nelly ;  tell  Ned  to  take  off  the  trunks ;  I  '11  stay 
where  I  am." 

"Oh,  Jack,  I  implore  you  not  to  wreck  your  whole  for- 
tune in  life.  It  is  just  because  Julia  loves  you  that  you  are 
bound  to  show  yourself  worthy  of  her.  You  know  how 
lucky  you  were  to  get  this  chance.  You  said  only  yester- 
day it  was  the  finest  station  in  the  whole  world.  Don't  lose 
it,  like  a  dear  fellow  —  don't  do  what  will  be  the  imbitter- 
ment  of  your  entire  life,  the  loss  of  your  rank,  and  —  the 

"    She  stopped  as  she  was  about  to  add  something  still 

stronger. 

"  I  '11  go,  then,  Nelly ;  don't  cry  about  it ;  if  you  sob  that 
way  I  '11  make  a  fool  of  myself.  Pretty  sight  for  the  flunk- 
ies, to  see  a  sailor  crying,  wouldn't  it?  all  because  he  had 
to  join  his  ship.  I'll  go,  then,  at  once.  I  suppose  you'll 
see  her  to-day,  or  to-morrow  at  farthest?" 


A  DEPARTURE.  157 

"I'm  not  sure,  Jack.  Marion  said  something  about 
hunting  parsons,  I  believe,  which  gave  George  such  deep 
pain  that  he  wouldn't  come  here  on  Wednesday.  Julia 
appears  to  be  more  annoyed  than  George,  and,  in  fact,  for 
"the  moment,  we  have  quarantined  each  other." 

"Isn't  this  too  bad?"    cried  he,  passionately. 

"  Of  course  it  is  too  bad ;  but  it's  only  a  passing  cloud  ; 
and  by  the  time  I  shall  write  to  you  it  will  have  passed 
away." 

Jack  clasped  her  affectionately  in  his  arms,  kissed  her 
twice,  and  sprang  into  the  carriage,  and  drove  away  with 
a  full  heart  indeed ;  but  also  with  the  fast  assurance  that 
his  dear  sister  would  watch  over  his  interests  and  not  for- 
get him. 

That  dark  drive  went  over  like  a  hideous  dream.  He 
heard  the  wind  and  the  rain,  the  tramp  of  the  horses'  feet 
and  the  splash  of  the  wheels  along  the  miry  road,  but  he 
never  fully  realized  where  he  was  or  how  he  came  there. 
The  first  bell  was  ringing  as  he  drove  into  the  station,  and 
there  was  but  little  time  to  get  down  his  luggage  and  secure 
his  ticket.  He  asked  for  a  coupe^  that  he  might  be  alone ; 
and  being  known  as  one  of  the  great  family  at  Castello, 
the  obsequious  station-master  hastened  to  install  him  at 
once.  On  opening  the  door,  however,  it  was  discovered  that 
another  traveller  had  already  deposited  a  great-coat  and  a 
rug  in  one  corner. 

"Give  yourself  no  trouble,  Captain  Bramleigh,"  said  the 
official,  in  a  low  voice.  "  I  '11  just  say  the  covpe  is  reserved, 
and  we  '11  put  him  into  another  compartment.  Take  these 
traps.  Bob,"  cried  he  to  a  porter,  "  and  put  them  into  a 
first-class." 

Scarcely  was  the  order  given  when  two  figures,  moving 
out  of  the  dark,  approached,  and  one,  with  a  slightly  foreign 
accent,  but  in  admirable  English,  said,  "What  are  you 
doing  there?     I  have  taken  that  place." 

"Yes,"  cried  his  friend,  "this  gentleman  secured  the 
coupe  on  the  moment  of  his  arrival." 

"Very  sorry,  sir  —  extremely  sorry;  but  the  coupe  was 
reserved —  specially  reserved." 

"My   friend    has    paid    for   that   place;"    said    the   last 


158  TIIE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

speaker;  "and  I  can  only  say,  if  I  were  he,  I'd  not  re- 
linquish it." 

"  Don't  bother  yourself  about  it,"  whispered  Jack.  "  Let 
him  have  his  place.  I  '11  take  the  other  corner ;  and  there  's 
an  end  of  it." 

"If  you'll  allow  me,  Captain  Bramleigh,"  said  the 
official,  who  was  now  touched  to  the  quick  on  that  sore 
point,  a  question  of  his  department —  "if  you'll  allow  me, 
I  think  I  can  soon  settle  this  matter." 

"But  I  will  not  allow  you,  sir,"  said  Jack,  his  sense  of 
fairness  already  outraged  by  the  whole  procedure.  "  He 
has  as  good  a  right  to  his  place  as  I  have  to  mine.  Many 
thanks  for  your  trouble.  Good-bye."  And  so  saying  he 
stepped  in. 

The  foreigner  still  lingered  in  earnest  converse  with  his 
friend,  and  only  mounted  the  steps  as  the  train  began  to 
move.  "A  bientot,  cher  Philippe,"  he  cried,  as  the  door 
was  slammed,  and  the  next  instant  they  were  gone. 

The  little  incident  which  had  preceded  their  departure  had 
certainly  not  conduced  to  any  amicable  disposition  between 
them,  and  each,  after  a  sidelong  glance  at  the  other,  en- 
sconced himself  more  completely  within  his  wrappings,  and 
gave  himself  up  to  either  silence  or  sleep. 

Some  thirty  miles  of  the  journey  had  rolled  over,  and  it 
was  now  da^^,  —  dark  and  dreary  indeed,  —  when  Jack 
awoke  and  found  the  carriage  pretty  thick  with  smoke. 
There  is  a  sort  of  freemasonry  in  the  men  of  tobacco  which 
never  fails  them,  and  they  have  a  kind  of  instinctive  guess 
of  a  strang/er  from  the  mere  character  of  his  weed.  On  the 
present  occasion  Jack  recognized  a  most  exquisite  Havauna 
odor,  and  turned  furtively  to  see  the  smoker. 

"  I  ought  to  have  asked,"  said  the  stranger,  "  if  this  was 
disagreeable  to  j^ou ;  but  you  were  asleep,  and  I  did  not  like 
to  disturb  you." 

"  Not  in  the  least;  I  am  a  smoker  too,"  said  Jack,  as  he 
drew  forth  his  case  and  proceeded  to  strike  a  light. 

"Might  I  offer  yon  one  of  mine?  —  they  are  not  bad," 
said  the  other,  proffering  his  case. 

"Thanks,"  said  Jack;  "my  tastes  are  too  vulgar  for 
Cubans.  Birdseye,  dashed  with  strong  Cavendish,  is  what 
I  like." 


A  DEPARTURE.  159, 

"  I  have  tried  that  too,  as  I  have  tried  everything  En- 
glish, but  the  same  sort  of  half  success  follows  me  through 
all." 

' '  If  your  knowledge  of  the  language  be  the  measure,  I  'd 
say  you've  not  much  to  complain  of.  I  almost  doubt 
whether  you  are  a  foreigner." 

''I  was  born  in  Italy,"  said  the  other,  cautiously,  "and 
never  in  England  till  a  few  weeks  ago." 

''I'm  afraid,"  said  Jack,  with  a  smile,  "I  did  not  im- 
press you  very  favorably  as  regards  British  politeness,  when 
we  met  this  morning ;  but  I  was  a  little  out  of  spkits.  I 
was  leaving  home,  not  very  likel}'  to  see  it  again  for  some 
time,  and  I  wanted  to  be  alone." 

"  I  am  greatly  grieved  not  to  have  known  this.  I  should 
never  have  thought  of  intruding." 

"  But  there  was  no  question  of  intruding.  It  was  your 
right  that  you  asserted,  and  no  more." 

"  Half  the  harsh  things  that  we  see  in  life  are  done 
merely  by  asserting  a  right,"  said  the  other,  in  a  deep  and 
serious  voice. 

Jack  had  little  taste  for  what  took  the  form  of  a  reflection ; 
to  his  apprehension,  it  was  own  brother  of  a  sermon;  and 
warned  by  this  sample  of  his  companion's  humor,  he  mut- 
tered a  broken'sort  of  assent  and  was  silent.  Little  passed 
between  them  till  they  met  at  the  dinner-table,  and  then  they 
only  interchanged  a  few  commonplace  remarks.  On  their 
reaching  their  destination,  they  took  leave  of  each  other 
courteously,  but  half  formally,  and  drove  off  tleir  several 
ways. 

Almost  the  first  man,  however,  that  Jack  met,  as  he 
stepped  on  board  the  mail-packet  for  Holyhead,  was  his 
fellow-traveller  of  the  rail.  This  time  they  met  cordially, 
and  after  a  few  words  of  greeting  they  proceeded  to  walk 
the  deck  together  like  old  acquaintances. 

Though  the  night  was  fresh  and  sharp  there  was  a  bright 
moon,  and  they  both  felt  reluctant  to  go  below,  where  a  vast 
crowd  of  passengers  was  assembled.  The  brisk  exercise, 
the  invigorating  air,  and  a  certain  congeniality  that  each 
discovered  in  the  other,  soon  established  between  them  one 
of  those  confidences  which  are  only  possible  in  early  life- 


IGO  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

Nor  do  I  know  anything  better  in  youth  than  the  frank 
readiness  with  whicii  such  friendships  are  made.  It  is  with 
no  spirit  of  calculation  —  it  is  with  no  counting  of  the  cost, 
that  we  sign  these  contracts.  We  feel  drawn  into  compan- 
ionship, half  by  some  void  within  ourselves,  half  by  some 
quality  that  seems  to  supply  that  void.  The  tones  of  our 
own  voice  in  our  own  ears  assure  us  that  we  have  found 
sympathy ;  for  we  feel  that  we  are  speaking  in  a  way  we 
could  not  speak  to  cold  or  uncongenial  listeners. 

When  Jack  Bramleigh  had  told  that  he  was  going  to  take 
command  of  a  small  gunboat  in  the  Mediterranean,  he  could 
not  help  going  further,  and  telling  with  what  a  heavy  heart 
he  was  going  to  assume  his  command.  ''  We  sailors  have  a 
hard  lot  of  it,"  said  he ;  "we  come  home  after  a  cruise  —  all 
is  new,  brilliant,  and  attractive  to  us.  Our  hearts  are  not 
steeled,  as  are  landsmen's,  by  daily  habit.  We  are  intoxi- 
cated by  what  calmer  heads  scarcely  feel  excited.  We  fall 
in  love,  and  then,  some  fine  day,  comes  an  Admiralty  de- 
spatch ordering  us  to  hunt  slavers  off  Lagos,  or  fish  for  a 
lost  cable  in  Behring's  Straits." 

"  Never  mind,"  said  the  other;  "  so  long  as  there  's  a  goal 
to  reach,  so  long  as  there  's  a  prize  to  win,  all  can  be  borne. 
It 's  only  when  life  is  a  shoreless  ocean  —  when,  seek  where 
you  will,  no  land  will  come  in  sight  —  when,  in  fact,  exist- 
ence offers  nothing  to  speculate  on  —  then,  indeed,  the  world 
is  a  dreary  blank." 

"  I  don't  suppose  any  fellow's  lot  is  as  bad  as  that." 

"Not  perhaps  completely,  thoroughly  so;  but  that  a 
man's  fate  can  approach  such  a  condition  —  that  a  man  can 
cling  to  so  small  a  hope  that  he  is  obliged  to  own  to  himself 
that  it  is  next  to  no  hope  at  all,  —  that  there  could  be,  and 
is,  such  a  lot  in  existence,  I  who  speak  to  you  now  am  able 
unfortunately  to  vouch  for." 

"I  am  sorry  to  hear  it,"  said  Jack,  feelingly ;  "  and  I  am 
sorry,  besides,  to  have  obtruded  my  own  small  griefs  before 
one  who  has  such  a  heavy  affliction." 

"  Remember,"  said  the  Frenchman,  "  I  never  said  it  was 
all  up  with  me.  I  have  a  plank  still  to  cling  to,  though  it 
be  only  a  plank.  My  case  is  simply  this  :  I  have  come  over 
to  this  country  to  prefer  a  claim  to  a  large  property,  and  I 


A   DEPARTURE.  161 

have  nothing  to  sustain  it  but  my  right.  I  know  well  you 
Englishmen  have  a  theory  that  your  laws  are  so  admirably 
and  so  purely  administered  that  if  a  man  asks  for  justice,  — 
be  he  poor,  or  unknown,  or  a  foreigner,  it  matters  not,  —  he 
is  sure  to  obtain  it.  I  like  the  theory,  and  I  respect  the 
man  who  believes  in  it,  but  I  don't  trust  it  myself.  I  re- 
member reading  in  your  debates,  how  the  House  of  Lords 
sat  for  days  over  a  claim  of  a  P^rench  nobleman  who  had 
been  ruined  by  the  great  Revolution  in  France,  and  for 
whose  aid,  with  others,  a  large  sum  had  once  been  voted,  of 
which,  through  a  series  of  misadventures,  not  a  shilling  had 
reached  him.  That  man's  claim,  upheld  and  maintained  by 
one  of  the  first  men  in  England,  and  with  an  eloquence  that 
thrilled  through  every  heart  around,  was  rejected,  ay,  re- 
jected, and  he  was  sent  out  of  court  a  beggar.  They  could  n't 
call  him  an  impostor,  but  they  left  him  to  starve !  "  He 
paused  for  a  second,  and  in  a  slower  voice  continued,  "  Now, 
it  may  be  that  my  case  shall  one  of  these  days  be  heard 
before  that  tribunal,  and  T  ask  you,  does  it  not  call  for  great 
courage  and  great  trustfulness  to  have  a  hope  on  the  issue?" 

''  I'll  stake  my  head  on  it,  they'll  deal  fairly  by  you," 
said  Jack,  stoutly. 

"The  poor  baron  I  spoke  of  had  powerful  friends:  men 
who  liked  him  well,  and  fairly  believed  in  his  claim.  Now 
I  am  utterly  unknown,  and  as  devoid  of  friends  as  of  money. 
I  think  nineteen  out  of  twenty  Englishmen  would  call  me  an 
adventurer  to-morrow  ;  and  there  are  few  titles  that  convey 
less  respect  in  this  grand  country  of  yours." 

"  There  you  are  right;  every  one  here  must  have  a  place 
in  society,  and  be  in  it." 

"  My  landlady  where  I  lodged  thought  me  an  adventurer; 
the  tailor  who  measured  me  whispered  adventurer  as  he  went 
downstairs ;  and  when  a  cabman,  in  gratitude  for  an  extra 
sixpence,  called  me  '  count,'  it  was  to  proclaim  me  an 
adventurer  to  all  who  heard  him." 

"  You  are  scarcely  fair  to  us,"  said  Jack,  laughing.  "  You 
have  been  singularly  unlucky  in  your  English  acquaintance." 

"  No.  I  have  met  a  great  deal  of  kindness,  but  always 
after  a  certain  interval  of  doubt  —  almost  of  mistrust.  I  tell 
you  frankly,  you  are  the  very  first  Englishman  with  whom  I 
11 


162  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

have  ventured  to  talk  freely  on  so  slight  an  acquahitance, 
and  it  has  been  to  me  an  unspeakable  relief  to  do  it." 

*'I  am  proud  to  think  you  had  that  confidence  in  me." 

"  You  yourself  suggested  it.  You  began  to  tell  me  of 
your  plans  and  hopes,  and  I  could  not  resist  the  temptation 
to  follow  you.  A  French  hussar  is  about  as  outspoken  an 
animal  as  an  English  sailor,  so  that  we  were  well  met." 

''  Are  you  still  in  the  service?" 

''  No;  I  am  in  what  we  call  clisponihilltL  I  am  free  till 
called  on  —  and  free  then  if  I  feel  unwilling  to  go  back." 

The  Frenchman  now  passed  on  to  speak  of  his  life  as  a 
soldier,  —  a  career  so  full  of  strange  adventures  and  curious 
incidents  that  Jack  was  actually  grieved  when  they  glided 
into  the  harbor  of  Holyhead,  and  the  steamer's  bell  broke 
up  the  narrative. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

A  MORNING  OP  perplexities- 
Colonel  Bramleigh  turned  over  and  over,  without  breaking 
the  seal,  a  letter  which,  bearing  the  postmark  of  Rome  and 
in  a  well-known  hand,  he  knew  came  from  Lady  Augusta. 

That  second  marriage  of  his  had  been  a  great  mistake. 
None  of  the  social  advantages  he  had  calculated  on  with  such 
certainty  had  resulted  from  it.  His  wife's  distinguished 
relatives  had  totally  estranged  themselves  from  her,  as 
though  she  had  made  an  unbecoming  and  unworthy  alliance ; 
his  own  sons  and  daughters  had  not  concealed  their  animosity 
to  their  new  stepmother ;  and,  in  fact,  the  best  compromise 
the  blunder  admitted  of  was  that  they  should  try  to  see  as 
little  as  possible  of  each  other ;  and  as  they  could  not 
obliterate  the  compact,  they  should,  as  far  as  in  them  lay, 
endeavor  to  ignore  it. 

There  are  no  more  painful  aids  to  a  memory  unwilling  to 
be  taxed  than  a  banker's  half-yearly  statement ;  and  in  the 
long  record  which  Christmas  had  summoned,  and  which' now 
lay  open  before  Bramleigh's  eyes,  were  frequent  and  weighty 
reminders  of  Lady  Augusta's  expensive  ways. 

He  had  agreed  to  allow  her  a  thousand  napoleons  —  about 
eight  hundred  pounds  —  quarterly,  which  was,  and  which  she 
owned  was,  a  most  liberal  and  sufficient  sum  to  live  on  alone, 
and  in  a  city  comparatively  cheap.  He  had,  however, 
added,  with  a  courtesy  that  the  moment  of  parting  might 
have  suggested,  "  Whenever  your  tastes  or  your  comforts  are 
found  to  be  hampered  in  any  way  by  the  limits  I  have  set 
down,  you  will  do  me  the  favor  to  draw  directly  on  '  the 
house,'  and  I  will  take  care  that  your  checks  shall  be 
attended  to." 


164  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

The  smile  with  which  she  thanked  him  was  still  in  his 
memory.  Since  the  memorable  morning  in  Berkeley  Square 
when  she  accepted  his  offer  of  marriage,  he  had  seen  nothing 
so  fascinating  —  nor,  let  us  add,  so  fleeting  —  as  this  gleam 
of  enchantoient.  Very  few  days  had  sufficed  to  show  him 
how  much  this  meteor  flash  of  loveliness  had  cost  him ;  and 
now,  as  he  sat  conning  over  a  long  line  of  figures,  he  be- 
thought him  that  the  second  moment  of  witchery  was  very 
nearly  as  expensive  as  the  first.  When  he  made  her  that 
courteous  offer  of  extending  the  limits  of  her  civil  list  he 
had  never  contemplated  how  far  she  could  have  pushed  his 
generosity,  and  now,  to  his  amazement,  he  discovered  that 
in  a  few  months  she  had  already  drawn  for  seven  thousand 
pounds,  and  had  intimated  to  the  house  that  the  first  instal- 
ment of  the  purchase  money  of  a  villa  would  probably  be 
required  some  time  early  in  May ;  the  business-like  character 
of  this  "advice"  being,  however,  sadly  disparaged  by  her 
having  totally  forgotten  to  say  anything  as  to  the  amount  of 
the  impending  demand. 

It  was  in  a  very  unlucky  moment  —  was  there  ever  a  lucky 
one?  —  when  these  heavy  demands  presented  themselves. 
Colonel  Bramleigh  had  latterly  taken  to  what  he  thought, 
or  at  least  meant  to  be,  retrenchment.  He  was  determined, 
as  he  said  himself,  to  "  take  the  bull  by  the  horns;  "  but 
the  men  who  perform  this  feat  usually  select  a  very  small 
bull.  He  had  nibbled,  as  it  were,  at  the  hem  of  the  budget ; 
he  had  cut  down  "the  boys'"  allowances.  "What  could 
Temple  want  with  five  hundred  a  year?  Her  Majesty  gave 
him  four,  and  her  Majesty  certainly  never  intended  to  take 
his  services  without  fitting  remuneration.  As  to  Jack  hav- 
ing three  hundred,  it  was  downright  absurdity :  it  was  ex- 
travagances like  these  destroyed  the  navy ;  besides,  ^  Jack 
had  got  his  promotion,  and  his  pay  ought  to  be  somelhing 
handsome."  AYith  regard  to  Augustus,  he  only  went  so  far 
as  certain  remonstrances  about  horse  keep  and  some  hints 
about  the  iniquities  of  a  German  valet  who,  it  was  rumored, 
had  actually  bought  a  house  in  Duke  Street,  St.  James's, 
out  of  his  peculations  in  the  family. 

The  girls  were  not  extravagantly  provided  for,  but  for 
example's   sake   he   reduced   their   allowance  by  one-third. 


A  MORNING  OF  PERPLEXITIES.  165 

Ireland  was  not  a  country  for  embroidered  silks  or  Genoa 
velvet.  It  would  be  an  admirable  lesson  to  others  if  they 
were  to  see  the  young  ladies  of  the  great  house  dressed 
simply  and  unpretentiously.  ' '  These  things  could  only  be 
done  by  people  of  station.  Such  examples  must  proceed 
from  those  whose  motives  could  not  be  questioned."  He 
dismissed  the  head  gardener,  and  he  was  actually  contem- 
plating the  discharge  of  the  French  cook,  though  he  well 
foresaw  the  storm  of  opposition  so  strong  a  measure  was 
sure  to  evoke.  When  he  came  to  sum  up  his  reforms  he 
was  shocked  to  find  that  the  total  only  reached  a  little  over 
twelve  hundred  pounds,  and  this  in  a  household  of  many 
thousands. 

Was  not  Castello,  too,  a  mistake?  Was  not  all  this 
princely  style  of  living,  in  a  county  without  a  neighborhood, 
totally  unvisited  by  strangers,  a  capital  blunder?  He  had 
often  heard  of  the  cheapness  of  life  in  Ireland ;  and  what  a 
myth  it  was !  He  might  have  lived  in  Norfolk  for  what  he 
was  spending  in  Downshire,  and  though  he  meant  to  do 
great  things  for  the  country,  a  doubt  was  beginning  to  steal 
over  him  as  to  how  they  were  to  be  done.  He  had  often 
Insisted  that  absenteeism  was  the  bane  of  Ireland,  and  yet 
for  the  life  of  him  he  could  not  see  how  his  residence  there 
was  to  prove  a  blessing. 

Lady  Augusta,  with  her  separate  establishment,  was 
spending  above  three  thousand  a  year.  Poor  man,  he  was 
grumbling  to  himself  over  this,  when  that  precious  document 
from  the  bank  arrived  with  the  astounding  news  of  her  im- 
mense extravagance.  He  laid  her  letter  down  again ;  he 
had  not  temper  to  read  it.  It  was  so  sure  to  be  one  of  those 
frivolous  little  levities  which  jar  so  painfully  on  serious  feel- 
ings. He  knew  so  well  the  half-jestful  excuses  she  would 
make  for  her  wastefulness,  the  coquettish  prettinesses  she 
would  deploy  in  describing  her  daily  life  of  mock  simplicity, 
and  utter  recklessness  as  to  cost,  that  he  muttered,  "Not 
now,"  to  himself,  as  he  pushed  the  letter  away.  And  as  he 
did  so  he  discovered  a  letter  in  the  hand  of  Mr.  Sedley,  his 
law  agent.  He  had  himself  written  a  short  note  to  that 
gentleman,  at  Jack's  request ;  for  Jack  —  who,  like  all 
sailors,  believed  in  a  First  Lord,  and  implicitly  felt  that  no 


166  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

promotion  ever  came  rightfully  —  wanted  a  special  intro- 
duction to  the  great  men  at  Somerset  House,  a  service  which 
Sedley,  who  knew  every  one,  could  easily  render  him.  This 
note  of  Sedley's  then,  doubtless,  referred  to  that  matter,  and 
though  Bramleigh  did  not  feel  any  great  or  warm  interest  in 
the  question,  he  broke  the  envelope  to  read  it  rather  as  a 
relief  than  otherwise.  It  was  at  least  a  new  topic,  and  it 
could  not  be  a  very  exciting  one.     The  letter  ran  thus :  — 

"Tuesday,  January  15. 
"  My  dear  Sir,  —    . 

"  Hicklay  wiU  speak  to  the  First  Lord  at  the  earliest  conve- 
nient moment,  but  as  Captain  Bramleigh  has  just  got  his  pro- 
motion, he  does  not  see  what  can  be  done  in  addition.  I  do  not 
suppose  your  son  would  like  a  dockyard  appointment,  but  a  toler- 
ably snug  berth  will  soon  be  vacant  at  Malta,  and  as  Captain  B. 
will  be  in  town  to-morrow,  I  shall  wait  upon  him  early,  and  learn 
his  wishes  in  the  matter.  There  is  a  great  talk  to-day  of  changes 
in  the  Cabinet,  and  some  rumor  of  a  dissolution.  These  reports 
and  disquieting  news  from  France  have  brought  the  funds  down 
one-sixth.  Burrows  and  Black  have  failed  —  the  Calcutta  house 
had  made  some  large  tea  speculation,  it  is  said,  without  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  partners  here.  At  all  events,  the  liabilities  will  exceed 
a  million  ;  available  assets  not  a  hundred  thousand.  I  hope  you 
will  not  suffer,  or  if  so,  to  only  a  trifling  extent,  as  I  know  you 
lately  declined  the  advances  Black  so  pressed  upon  you." 

'*He's  right  there,"  muttered  Bramleigh.  "I  wouldn't 
touch  those  indigo  bonds.  When  old  Grant  began  to  back 
up  the  natives,  I  saw  what  would  become  of  the  planters. 
All  meddling  with  the  labor  market  in  India  is  mere  gam- 
bling, and  whenever  a  man  makes  his  coup  he  ought  to  go 
off  with  his  money.  What 's  all  this  here,"  muttered  he, 
"about  Talookdars  and  Ryots?  He  ought  to  know  this 
question  cannot  interest  me." 

"  I  met  Kelson  yesterday ;  he  was  very  close  and  guarded,  but 
my  impression  is  that  they  are  doing  nothing  in  the  affair  of  the 
'  Pretender.'  I  hinted  jocularly  something  about  having  a  few 
thousands  by  me  if  he  should  happen  to  know  of  a  good  invest- 
ment, and,  in  the  same  careless  way,  he  replied,  *  I  '11  drop  in  some 
morning  at  the  office,  and  have  a  talk  with  Tou.'  There  was  a 
significance  in  his  manner  that  gave  me  to  believe  he  meant  a 


A  MORNING  OF  PERPLEXITIES.  167 

'transaction.*  We  shall  see.  I  shaU  add  a  few  lines  to  this  after 
I  have  seen  Captain  B.  to-morrow.  I  must  now  hurry  off  to 
Westminster." 

Bramleigh  turned  over,  and  read  the  following :  — 

''  Wednesday,  16. 

"  On  going  to  the  '  Drummond '  this  morning  to  breakfast,  by 
appointment  with  your  son,  1  found  him  dressing,  but  talking 
with,  the  occupant  of  a  room  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  sitting- 
room,  where  breakfast  was  laid  for  three.  Captain  B.,  who 
seemed  in  excellent  health  and  spirits,  entered  freely  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  shore  appointment,  and  when  I  suggested  caution  in 
discussing  it,  told  me  there  was  no  need  of  reserve,  that  he  could 
say  what  he  pleased  before  his  friend  —  *  whom,  by  the  way,'  said 
he,  '  I  am  anxious  to  make  known  to  you.  You  are  the  very  man 
to  give  him  first-rate  advice,  and  if  you  cannot  take  up  his  case 
yourself  to  recommend  him  to  some  one  of  trust  and  character.' 
While  we  were  talking,  the  stranger  entered,  —  a  young  man,  short, 
good-looking,  and  of  good  address.  '  I  want  to  present  you  to  ]\Ir. 
Sedley,'  said  Captain  B.,  'and  I'll  be  shot  if  I  don't  forget  your 
name.* 

"  'I  half  doubt  if  you  ever  knew  it,'  said  the  other,  laughing; 
and,  turning  to  me,  added,  '  Our  friendship  is  of  short  date.  We 
met  as  travellers,  but  I  have  seen  enough  of  life  to  know  that  the 
instinct  that  draws  men  towards  each  other  is  no  bad  guarantee 
for  mutual  liking.'  He  said  this  with  a  slightly  foreign  accent, 
but  fluently  and  easily. 

"  We  now  sat  down  to  table,  and  though  not  being  gifted  with 
that  expansiveness  that  the  stranger  spoke  of,  I  soon  found  myself 
listening  with  pleasure  to  the  conversation  of  a  very  shrewd  and 
witty  man,  who  had  seen  a  good  deal  of  life.  Perhaps  I  may  have 
exhibited  some  trait  of  the  pleasure  he  afforded  me  —  perhaps  I 
may  have  expressed  it  in  words ;  at  all  events  your  son  marked 
the  effect  produced  upon  me,  and  in  a  tone  of  half  jocular  triumph, 
cried  out,  '  Eh,  Sedley,  you  '11  stand  by  him  —  won't  you  ?  I  've 
told  him  if  there  was  a  man  in  England  to  carry  him  through  a 
stiff  campaign  you  were  the  fellow.'  I  replied  by  some  common- 
place, and  rose  soon  after  to  proceed  to  court.  As  the  foreigner 
had  also  some  business  at  the  Hall,  I  offered  him  a  seat  in  my  cab. 
As  we  went  along,  he  spoke  freely  of  himself  and  his  former  life, 
and  gave  me  his  card,  with  the  name  '  Anatole  Pracontal '  —  one 
of  the  aliases  of  our  Pretender.  So  that  here  I  was  for  two  hours 
in  close  confab  with  the  enemy,  to  whom  I  was  actually  presented 
by  your  own  son  !     So  overwhelming  was  this  announcement  that 


168  THE  BRAMLEIGIIS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

I  really  felt  unable  to  take  any  course,  and  doubted  whether  I 
ought  not  at  once  to  have  told  him  who  his  fellow-traveller  was. 
I  decided  at  last  for  the  more  cautious  line,  and  asked  him  to  come 
and  see  me  at  Fulham.  AVe  parted  excellent  friends.  Whether 
he  will  keep  his  appointment  or  not  I  am  unable  to  guess.  By  a 
special  good  fortune  —  so  I  certainly  must  deem  it  —  Captain 
Bramleigh  was  telegraphed  for  to  Portsmouth,  and  had  to  leave 
town  at  once.  So  that  any  risks  from  that  quarter  are  avoided. 
Whether  this  strange  meeting  will  turn  out  w^ell  or  ill,  whether  it 
will  be  misinterpreted  by  Kelson  when  he  comes  to  hear  it,  —  for  it 
would  be  hard  to  believe  it  all  accident,  —  and  induce  him  to  treat 
us  with  distrust  and  suspicion,  or  whether  it  may  conduce  to  a 
speedy  settlement  of  everything,  is  more  than  I  can  yet  say. 

"  I  am  so  far  favorably  impressed  by  M.  Pracontal's  manner 
and  address  that  I  think  he  ought  not  to  be  one  difficult  to  deal 
with.  What  may  be  his  impression,  however,  when  he  learns  with 
whom  he  has  been  talking  so  freely,  is  still  doubtful  to  me.  He 
cannot,  it  is  true,  mistrust^your  son,  but  he  may  feel  grave  doubts 
about  7ne. 

"  I  own  I  do  not  expect  to  see  him  to-morrow.  Kelson  will  cer- 
tainly advise  him  against  such  a  step,  nor  do  I  yet  perceive  what 
immediate  good  would  result  from  our  meeting,  beyond  the  assur- 
ing him  —  as  I  certainly  should  —  that  all  that  had  occurred  was 
pure  chance,  and  that,  though  perfectly  familiar  with  his  name  and 
his  pretensions,  I  had  not  the  vaguest  suspicion  of  his  identity  till 
I  read  his  card.  It  may  be  that  out  of  this  strange  blunder  good 
may  come.     Let  us  hope  it.     I  will  write  to-morrow. 

"  Truly  3^ours, 

"M.   Sedley." 

Colonel  Bramleigh  re-read  every  line  of  the  letter  care- 
fully;  and  as  he  laid  it  down  wdth  a  sigh,  he  said,  "  What 
a  complication  of  troubles  on  my  hands !  At  the  very  mo- 
ment that  I  am  making  engagements  to  relieve  others,  I 
may  not  have  the  means  to  meet  my  own  difficulties. 
Sedley  was  quite  wrong  to  make  any  advances  to  this  man ; 
they  are  sure  to  be  misinterpreted.  Kelson  will  think  we 
are  afraid,  and  raise  his  terms  w^ith  us  accordingly." 
Again  his  eyes  fell  upon  Lady  Augusta's  letter;  but  he 
had  no  temper  now  to  encounter  all  the  light  gossip  and 
frivolity  it  was  sure  to  contain.  He  placed  it  in  his  pocket, 
and  set  out  to  take  a  walk.  He  wanted  to  think,  but  he 
also  wanted  the  spring  and   energy  which  come  of  brisk 


A   MORNING   OF  PERPLEXITIES.  169 

exercise.  He  felt  bis  mind  would  work  more  freely  when 
he  was  in  motion ;  and  in  the  open  air,  too,  he  should  escape 
from  the  terrible  oppression  of  being  continually  confronted 
by  himself  —  which  he  felt  while  he  was  in  the  solitude  of 
his  study. 

"  If  M,  Pracontal  measure  us  by  the  standard  of  Master 
Jack,"  muttered  he,  bitterly,  "  he  will  opine  that  the  conflict 
ought  not  to  be  a  tough  one.  What  fools  these  sailors  are 
when  you  take  them  off  their  own  element;  and  what  a 
little  bit  of  a  world  is  the  quarter-deck  of  a  frigate  I  Provi- 
dence has  not  blessed  me  with  brilliant  sons ;  that  is  certain. 
It  was  through  Temple  we  have  come  to  know  Lord  Culduff ; 
and  I  protest  I  anticipate  little  of  either  profit  or  pleasure 
from  the  acquaintanceship.  As  for  Augustus,  he  is  only 
so  much  shrewder  than  the  others,  that  he  is  more  cautious ; 
his  selfishness  is  immensely  preservative."  This  was  not, 
it  must  be  owned,  a  flattering  estimate  that  he  made  of  his 
sons ;  but  he  was  a  man  to  tell  hard  truths  to  himself ;  and 
to  tell  them  roughly  and  roundly  too,  like  one  who,  when  he 
had  to  meet  a  difficulty  in  life,  would  rather  confront  it  in 
its  boldest  shape. 

So  essentially  realistic  was  the  man's  mind,  that,  till  he 
had  actually  under  his  eyes  these  few  lines  describing  Pra- 
contal's  look  and  manner,  he  had  never  been  able  to  convince 
himself  that  this  pretender  was  an  actual  bond  fide  creature. 
Up  to  this,  the  claim  had  been  a  vague  menace,  and  no  more, 
a  tradition  that  ended  in  a  threat !  There  was  the  whole  of 
it!  Kelson  had  written  to  Sedley,  and  Sedley  to  Kelson. 
There  had  been  a  half-amicable  contest,  a  sort  of  round  with 
the  gloves,  in  which  these  two  crafty  men  appeared  rather 
like  great  moralists  than  cunning  lawyers.  Had  they  been 
peacemakers  by  Act  of  Parliament,  they  could  not  have 
urged  more  strenuously  the  advantages  of  amity  and  kindli- 
ness;  how  severely  they  censured  the  contentious  spirit 
which  drove  men  into  litigation  !  and  how  beautifully  they 
showed  the  Christian  benefit  of  an  arbitration  "  under  the 
court,"  the  costs  to  be  equitably  divided ! 

Throughout  the  whole  drama,  however,  M.  Pracontal  had 
never  figured  as  an  active  character  of  the  piece ;  and  for  all 
that  Rramleigh  could  see,  the  machinery  might  work  to  the 


170  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

end,  and  the  catastrophe  be  announced,  not  only  without 
ever  producing  him,  but  actually  without  his  having  ever 
existed.  If  from  time  to  time  he  might  chance  to  read  in 
the  public  papers  of  a  suspicious  foreigner,  a  "  Frenchman 
or  Italian  of  fashionable  appearance,"  having  done  this,  that, 
or  t'other,  he  would  ask  himself  at  once,  "  I  wonder  could 
that  be  my  man?  Is  that  the  adventurer  who  wants  to 
replace  me  here?"  As  time,  however,  rolled  on,  and  noth- 
ing came  out  of  this  claim  more  palpable  than  a  dropping 
letter  from  Sedley,  to  say  he  had  submitted  such  a  point  to 
counsel,  or  he  thought  that  the  enemy  seemed  disposed  to 
come  to  terms,  Bramleigh  actually  began  to  regard  the  whole 
subject  as  a  man  might  the  danger  of  a  storm,  which,  break- 
ing afar  off,  might  probably  waste  all  its  fury  before  it 
reached  him. 

Now,  however,  these  feelings  of  vague,  undefined  doubt 
were  to  give  way  to  a  very  palpable  terror.  His  own  son 
had  seen  Pracontal,  and  sat  at  table  with  him.  Pracontal 
was  a  good-looking,  well-mannered  fellow,  with,  doubtless, 
all  the  readiness  and  the  aplomb  of  a  clever  foreigner ;  not 
a  creature  of  mean  appearance  and  poverty-struck  aspect, 
whose  very  person  would  disparage  his  pretensions,  but  a 
man  with  the  bearing  of  the  world  and  the  habits  of  society. 

So  sudden  and  so  complete  was  this  revulsion,  and  so  posi- 
tively did  it  depict  before  him  an  actual  conflict,  that  he 
could  only  think  of  how  to  deal  with  Pracontal  personally, 
by  what  steps  it  might  be  safest  to  approach  him,  and  how 
to  treat  a  man  whose  changeful  fortunes  must  doubtless 
have  made  him  expert  in  difficulties,  and  at  the  same  time  a 
not  unlikely  dupe  to  well-devised  and  well-applied  flatteries. 

To  have  invited  him  frankly  to  Castello  —  to  have  as- 
sumed that  it  was  a  case  in  which  a  generous  spirit  might 
deal  far  more  successfully  than  all  the  cavils  and  cranks  of 
the  law,  was  Bramleigh's  first  thought ;  but  to  do  this  with 
effect,  he  must  confide  the  whole  story  of  the  peril  to  some 
at  least  of  the  family ;  and  this,  for  many  reasons,  he  could 
not  stoop  to.  Bramleigh  certainly  attached  no  actual  weight 
to  this  man's  claim ;  he  did  not  in  his  heart  believe  that 
there  was  any  foundation  for  his  pretension;  but  Sedley 
had  told  him  that  there  was  case  enough  to  go  to  a  jury, 


A  MORNING   OF   PERPLEXITIES.  171 

and  a  jury  meant  exposure,  publicity,  comment,  and  very 
unpleasant  comment  too,  when  party  hatred  should  contrib- 
ute its  venom  to  the  discussion.  If,  then,  he  shrunk  from 
imparting  this  story  to  his  sons  and  daughters,  how  long 
could  he  count  on  secrecy  ?  —  only  till  next  assizes  perhaps. 
At  the  first  notice  of  trial  the  whole  mischief  would  be  out, 
and  the  matter  be  a  world-wide  scandal.  Sedley  advised  a 
compromise,  but  the  time  was  very  unpropitious  for  this. 
It  was  downright  impossible  to  get  money  at  the  moment. 
Every  one  was  bent  on  "  realizing,"  in  presence  of  all  the 
crashes  and  bankruptcies  around.  None  would  lend  on  the 
best  securities,  and  men  were  selling  out  at  ruinous  loss  to 
meet  pressing  engagements.  For  the  very  first  time  in  his 
life,  Bramleigh  felt  what  it  was  to  want  for  ready  money. 
He  had  every  imaginable  kind  of  wealth.  Souses  and  lands, 
stocks,  shares,  ships,  costly  deposits  and  mortgages,  —  every- 
thing in  short  but  gold;  and  yet  it  was  gold  alone  could 
meet  the  emergency.  How  foolish  it  was  of  him  to  involve 
himself  in  Lord  Culduff's  difficulties  at  such  a  crisis ;  had 
he  not  troubles  enough  of  his  own?  Would  that  esseijced 
and  enamelled  old  dandy  have  stained  his  boots  to  have 
served  him?  That  was  a  very  unpleasant  query,  which 
would  cross  his  mind,  and  never  obtain  anything  like  a  sat- 
isfactory reply.  Would  not  his  calculation  probably  be  that 
Bramleigh  was  amply  recompensed  for  all  he  could  do  by 
the  honor  of  being  deemed  the  friend  of  a  noble  lord,  so 
highly  placed,  and  so  much  thought  of  in  the  world? 

As  for  Lady  Augusta's  extravagance,  it  was  simply  in- 
sufferable. He  had  been  most  liberal  to  her  because  he 
would  not  permit  that  whatever  might  be  the  nature  of  the 
differences  that  separated  them,  money  in  any  shape  should 
enter.  There  must  be  nothing  sordid  or  mean  in  the  tone 
of  any  discussion  between  them.  She  might  prefer  Italy 
to  Ireland  ;  sunshine  to  rain,  a  society  of  idle,  leisure-loving, 
indolent,  soft-voiced  men,  to  association  with  sterner,  se- 
verer, and  more  energetic  natures.  She  might  affect  to  think 
climate  all  essential  to  her,  and  the  society  of  her  sister  a 
positive  necessity.  All  these  he  might  submit  to,  but  he 
was  neither  prepared  to  be  ruined  by  her  wastefulness,  nor 
maintain  a  controversy  as  to   the  sum   she    should   spend. 


172  THE   BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

*'If  we  come  to  figures,  it  must  be  a  fight,"  muttered  he, 
^' and  an  ignoble  fight  too;  and  it  is  to  that  we  are  now 
approaching." 

"I  think  I  can  guess  what  is  before  me  here,"  said  he, 
with  a  grim  smile,  as  he  tore  open  the  letter  and  prepared 
to  read  it.  Now,  though  on  this  occasion  his  guess  was  not 
exactly  correct,  nor  did  the  epistle  contain  the  graceful  little 
nothings  by  w^hich  her  ladyship  was  wont  to  chronicle  her 
daily  life,  we  forbear  to  give  it  i7i  extenso  to  our  readers ; 
first  of  all,  because  it  opened  with  a  very  long  and  intricate 
explanation  of  motives  which  was  no  explanation  at  all, 
and  then  proceeded  by  an  equally  prolix  narrative  to  an- 
nounce a  determination  which  was  only  to  be  final  on  appro- 
val. In  two  words,  Lady  Augusta  was  desirous  of  changing 
her  religion ;  but  before  becoming  a  Catholic,  she  wished  to 
know  if  Colonel  Bramleigh  would  make  a  full  and  irrevoca- 
ble settlement  on  her  of  her  present  allowance,  giving  her 
entire  power  over  its  ultimate  disposal,  for  she  hinted  that 
the  sum  might  be  capitalized ;  the  recompense  for  such 
splendid  generosity  being  the  noble  consciousness  of  a  very 
grand  action,  and  his  own  liberty.  To  the  latter  she  ad- 
verted with  becoming  delicacy,  slyly  hinting  that  in  the 
church  to  which  he  belonged  there  might  probably  be  no  very 
strenuous  objections  made,  should  he  desire  to  contract  new 
ties,  and  once  more  re-enter  the  bonds  of  matrimony. 

The  expression  which  burst  aloud  from  Bramleigh  as  he 
finished  the  letter,  conveyed  all  that  he  felt  on  the  subject. 

"What  outrageous  effrontery!  The  first  part  of  this 
precious  document  is  written  by  a  priest,  and  the  second  by 
an  attorney.  It  begins  by  informing  me  that  I  am  a  heretic, 
and  politely  asks  me  to  add  to  that  distinction  the  honor  of 
being  a  beggar.  What  a  woman !  I  have  done,  I  suppose, 
a  great  many  foolish  things  in  life,  but  I  shall  not  cap  them 
so  far,  I  promise  you.  Lady  Augusta,  by  an  endowment  of 
the  Catholic  Church.  No,  my  Lady,  you  shall  give  the  new 
faith  you  are  about  to  adopt  the  most  signal  proof  of  your 
sincerity,  by  renouncing  all  worldliness  at  the  threshold ; 
and  as  the  nuns  cut  off  their  silken  tresses,  you  shall  rid 
yourself  of  that  wealth  which  we  are  told  is  such  a  barrier 
ao-ainst  heaven.     Far  be  it  from  me,"  said  he  with  a  sardonic 


UNIVERSITY   J 

OF  // 

^ A  MORNING   OF   PERPLEXITIES.  173 

bitterness,  "  who  have  done  so  little  for  your  happiness  here, 
to  peril  your  welfare  hereafter." 

''  I  will  answer  this  at  once,"  said  he.  "  It  shall  not 
remain  one  post  without  its  reply." 

He  arose  to  return  to  the  house ;  but  in  his  pre-occupation 
he  continued  to  walk  till  he  reached  tlie  brow  of  the  cliff 
from  which  the  roof  of  the  curate's  cottage  was  seen  about 
a  mile  off.  The  peaceful  stillness  of  the  scene,  where  not  a 
leaf  moved,  and  where  the  sea  washed  lazily  along  the  low 
strand  with  a  sweeping  motion  that  gave  no  sound,  calmed 
and  soothed  him.  Was  it  not  to  taste  that  sweet  sense  of 
repose  that  he  had  quitted  the  busy  life  of  cities  and  come 
to  this  lone,  sequestered  spot?  Was  not  this  very  moment, 
as  he  now  felt  it,  the  realization  of  a  long-cherished  desire? 
Had  the  world  anything  better  in  all  its  prizes,  he  asked 
himself,  than  the  peaceful  enjoyment  of  an  uncheckered 
existence?  "  Shall  I  not  try  to  carry  out  what  once  I  had 
planned  to  myself,  and  live  my  life  as  I  intended?" 

He  sat  down  on  the  brow  of  the  crag  and  looked  out  over 
the  sea.  A  gentle,  but  not  unpleasant  sadness  was  creeping 
over  him.  It  was  one  of  those  moments  —  every  man  has 
had  them  —  in  which  the  vanity  of  life  and  the  frivolity  of 
all  its  ambitions  present  themselves  to  the  mind  far  more 
forcibly  than  ever  they  appear  when  urged  from  the  pulpit. 
There  is  no  pathos,  no  bad  taste,  no  inflated  description  in 
the  workings  of  reflectiveness.  When  we  come  to  compute 
with  ourselves  what  we  have  gained  by  our  worldly  suc- 
cesses, and  to  make  a  total  of  all  our  triumphs,  we  arrive  at 
a  truer  insight  into  the  nothingness  of  what  we  are  contend- 
ing for  than  we  ever  attain  through  the  teaching  of  our 
professional  moralists. 

Colonel  Bramleigh  had  made  considerable  progress  along 
this  peaceful  track  since  he  sat  down  there.  Could  he  only 
be  sure  to  accept  the  truths  he  had  been  repeating  to  himself 
without  any  wavering  or  uncertainty ;  could  he  have  resolu- 
tion enough  to  conform  his  life  to  these  convictions  —  throw 
over  all  ambitions,  and  be  satisfied  with  mere  happiness  — 
was  this  prize  not  within  his  reach?  Temple  and  Marion, 
perhaps,  might  resist ;  but  he  was  certain  the  others  would 
agree  with  him.     While  he  thus  pondered,  he  heard  the  low 


174  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

murmur  of  voices,  apparently  near  him ;  he  listened,  and 
perceived  that  some  persons  were  talking  as  they  mounted 
the  zigzag  path  which  led  up  from  the  bottom  of  the  gorge, 
and  which  had  to  cross  and  re-cross  continually  before  it 
gained  the  summit.  A  thick  hedge  of  laurel  and  arbutus 
fenced  the  path  on  either  side  so  completely  as  to  shut  out 
all  view  of  those  who  were  walking  along  it,  and  who 
had  to  pass  and  re-pass  quite  close  to  where  Bramleigh  was 
sitting. 

To  his  intense  astonishment  it  was  in  French  they  spoke : 
and  a  certain  sense  of  terror  came  over  him  as  to  what  this 
might  portend.  Were  these  spies  of  the  enemy,  and  was  the 
mine  about  to  be  sprung  beneath  him?  One  was  a  female 
voice,  a  clear,  distinct  voice  —  which  he  thought  he  knew 
well,  and  oh,  what  inexpressible  relief  to  his  anxiety  was  it 
when  he  recognized  it  to  be  Julia  L'Estrange's.  She  spoke 
volubly,  almost  flippantly,  and,  as  it  seemed  to  Bramleigh, 
in  a  tone  of  half  sarcastic  raillery,  against  which  her  com- 
panion appeared  to  protest,  as  he  more  than  once  repeated 
the  word  "  serieuse  "  in  a  tone  almost  reproachful. 

"  If  I  am  to  be  serious,  my  Lord,"  said  she,  in  a  more 
collected  tone,  "  I  had  better  get  back  to  English.  Let  me 
tell  you  then,  in  a  language  which  admits  of  little  miscon- 
ception, that  I  have  forborne  to  treat  your  Lordship's  pro- 
posal with  gravity,  partly  out  of  respect  for  myself,  partly 
out  of  deference  to  you." 

"  Deference  to  me?  What  do  you  mean?  what  can  you 
mean?  " 

''  I  mean,  my  Lord,  that  all  the  flattery  of  being  the 
object  of  your  Lordship's  choice  could  not  obliterate  my 
sense  of  a  disparity,  just  as  great  between  us  in  years  as  in 
condition.  I  was  nineteen  my  last  birthday,  Lord  Culduff ;  " 
and  she  said  this  with  a  pouting  air  of  offended  dignity. 

*'  A  peeress  of  nineteen  would  be  a  great  success  at  a 
drawing-room,"  said  he,  with  a  tone  of  pompous  delibera- 
tion. 

"  Pray,  my  Lord,  let  us  quit  a  theme  we  cannot  agree 
upon.  With  all  your  Lordship's  delicacy,  you  have  not  been 
able  to  conceal  the  vast  sacrifices  it  has  cost  you  to  make 
me  your  present  proposal.    I  have  no  such  tact.     I  have  not 


A  MORNING  OF  PERPLEXITIES.  175 

even  the  shadow  of  it ;  and  I  could  never  hope  to  hide  what 
it  would  cost  me  to  become  grande  dame." 

*' A  proposal  of  marriage;  an  actual  proposal,"  muttered 
Bramleigh,  as  he  arose  to  move  away.  "  I  heard  it  with 
my  own  ears ;  and  heard  her  refuse  it,  besides." 

An  hour  later,  when  he  mounted  the  steps  of  the  chief 
entrance,  he  met  Marion,  who  came  towards  him  with  an 
open  letter.  "This  is  from  poor  Lord  Culduff,"  said  she ; 
*'  he  has  been  stopping  these  last  three  days  at  the 
L'Estranges',  and  what  between  boredom  and  bad  cookery, 
he  could  n't  hold  out  any  longer.  He  begs  he  may  be  per- 
mitted to  come  back  here ;  he  says,  '  Put  me  below  the  salt, 
if  you  like, —  anywhere,  only  let  it  be  beneath  your  roof,  and 
within  the  circle  of  your  fascinating  society.'  Shall  I  say 
Come,  papa?" 

"  I  suppose  we  must,"  muttered  Bramleigh,  sulkily,  and 
passed  on  to  his  room. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

GEORGE    AND     JULIA. 

It  was  after  a  hard  day  with  the  hounds  that  George 
L'EstraDge  reached  the  cottage  to  a  late  dinner.  The 
hunting  had  not  been  good.  They  had  found  three  times, 
but  each  time  lost  their  fox  after  a  short  burst,  and  though 
the  morning  broke  favorably,  with  a  low  cloudy  sky  and 
all  the  signs  of  a  good  scenting  day,  towards  the  afternoon 
a  brisk  northeaster  had  sprung  up,  making  the  air  sharp 
and  piercing,  and  rendering  the  dogs  wild  and  uncertain. 
In  fact,  it  was  one  of  those  days  which  occasionally  irritate 
men  more  than  actual  "blanks;"  there  was  a  constant 
promise  of  something,  always  ending  in  disappointment. 
The  horses,  too,  were  fretful  and  impatient,  as  horses  are 
wont  to  be  with  frequent  checks,  and  when  excited  by  a  cold 
and  cutting  wind. 

Even  Nora,  perfection  that  she  was  of  temper  and  train- 
ing, had  not  behaved  well.  She  had  taken  her  fences  hotly 
and  impatiently,  and  actually  chested  a  stiff  bank,  which 
cost  herself  and  her  rider  a  heavy  fall,  and  a  disgrace  that 
the  curate  felt  more  acutely  than  the  injur3^ 

"You  don't  mean  to  say  you  fell,  George?"  said  Julia, 
with  a  look  of  positive  incredulity. 

"  Nora  did,  which  comes  pretty  much  to  the  same  thing. 
We  were  coming  out  of  Gore's  Wood,  and  I  was  leading. 
There  's  a  high  bank  with  a  drop  into  Longworth's  lawn. 
It 's  a  place  I  have  taken  scores  of  times.  One  can't  fly  it ; 
you  must  '  top,'  and  Nora  can  do  that  sort  of  thing  to  per- 
fection ;  and  as  I  came  on  I  had  to  swerve  a  little  to  avoid 
some  of  the  dogs  that  were  climbing  up  the  bank.  Perhaps 
it  was  that. irritated  her,  but  she  rushed  madly  on,  and  came 
full  chest  against  the  gripe,  and  —  I  don't  remember  much 


GEORGE  AND  JULIA.  177 

more  till  I  found  myself  actually  drenched  with  vinegar  that 
old  Catty  Lalor  was  pouring  over  me,  when  I  got  up  again, 
addled  and  confused  enough;  but  I'm  all  right  now.  Do 
you  know,  Ju,"  said  he,  after  a  pause,  ''  I  was  more  an- 
noyed by  a  chance  remark  I  heard  as  I  was  lying  on  the 
grass  than  by  the  whole  misadventure  ?  " 

"What  was  it,  George?" 

"It  was  old  Curtis  was  riding  by,  and  he  cried  out, 
*Who  's  down?  '  and  some  one  said,  'L' Estrange.'  'By 
Jove,'  said  he,  'I  don't  think  that  fellow  was  ever  on  his 
knees  before;'  and  this  because  I  was  a  parson." 

"  How  unfeeling ;  but  how  like  him !  " 

"Wasn't  it?  After  all,  it  comes  of  doing  what  is  not 
exactly  right.  I  suppose  it 's  not  enough  that  I  see  nothing 
wrong  in  a  day  with  the  hounds.  I  ought  to  think  how 
others  regard  it;  whether  it  shocks  them^  or  exposes  my 
cloth  to  sarcasm  or  censure.     Is  it  not  dinner-hour?  " 

"Of  course  it  is,  George,     It 's  past  eight." 

"And  Where's  our  illustrious  guest;  has  he  not  ap- 
peared ?  " 

"  Lord  Culduff  has  gone.  There  came  a  note  to  him  from 
Castello  in  the  afternoon,  and  about  five  o'clock  the  phaeton 
appeared  at  the  door  —  only  with  the  servants  —  and  his 
Lordship  took  a  most  affectionate  leave  of  me,  charging  me 
with  the  very  sweetest  messages  for  you,  and  assurances  of 
eternal  memory  of  the  blissful  hours  he  had  passed  here." 

"Perhaps  it's  not  the  right  thing  to  say,  but  I  own  to 
you  I'm  glad  he's  gone." 

"But  why,  George  ;  was  he  not  amusing?" 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  he  was ;  but  he  was  so  supremely  arro- 
gant, so  impressed  with  his  own  grandness,  and  our  little- 
ness, so  persistently  eager  to  show  us  that  we  were  enjoying 
an  honor  in  his  presence,  that  nothing  in  our  lives  could 
entitle  us  to,  that  I  found  my  patience  pushed  very  hard  to 
endure  it." 

"I  liked  him.  I  liked  his  vanity  and  conceit;  and  I 
wouldn't  for  anything  he  had  been  less  pretentious." 

"I  have  none  of  your  humoristic  temperament,  Julia,  and 
I  never  could  derive  amusement  from  the  eccentricities  or 
peculiarities  of  others." 

12 


178  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"And  there's  no  fun  like  it,  George.  Once  that  you 
come  to  look  on  life  as  a  great  drama,  and  all  the  men  and 
women  as  players,  it 's  the  best  comedy  ever  one  sat  at.'' 

"I  'm  glad  he  's  gone  for  another  reason,  too.  I  suppose 
it 's  shabby  to  say  it,  but  it 's  true,  all  the  same.  He  was 
a  very  costly  guest,  and  I  w^asn't  disposed,  like  Charles  the 
Bold  or  that  other  famous  fellow,  to  sell  a  province  to 
entertain  an  emperor." 

"Had  we  a  province  to  sell,  George?"  said  she,  laughing. 

"No,  but  1  had  a  horse,  and  unfortunately  Nora  must 
go  to  the  hammer  now." 

"Surely  not  for  this  week's  extravagance?"  cried  she, 
anxiously. 

"Not  exactly  for  this,  but  for  everything.  You  know 
old  Curtis 's  saying,  —  'It 's  always  the  last  glass  of  wine 
makes  a  man  tipsy.'  But  here  comes  the  dinner,  and  let  us 
tm-n  to  something  pleasanter." 

It  was  so  jolly  to  be  alone  again,  all  restraint  removed, 
all  terror  of  culinary  mishaps  withdrawn,  and  all  the  con- 
sciousness of  little  domestic  shortcomings  obliterated,  that 
L'Estrange's  spirit  rose  at  every  moment,  and  at  last  he 
burst  out,  "  I  declare  to  you,  Julia,  if  that  man  had  n't  gone, 
I  'd  have  died  out  of  pure  inanition.  To  see  him  day 
after  day  trying  to  conform  to  our  humble  fare,  turning 
over  his  meat  on  his  plate,  and  trying  to  divide  with  his 
fork  the  cutlet  that  he  would  n't  condescend  to  cut,  and 
barely  able  to  suppress  the  shudder  our  little  light  wine 
gave  him;  to  witness  all  this,  and  to  feel  that  I  mustn't 
seem  to  know,  while  I  was  fully  aware  of  it,  was  a  down- 
right misery.     I  'd  like  to  know  what  brought  him  here." 

"I  fancy  he  could  n't  tell  you  himself.  He  paid  an  inter- 
minable visit,  and  we  asked  him  to  stop  and  dine  with  us. 
A  wet  night  detained  him,  and  when  his  servant  came  over 
with  his  dressing-bag  or  portmanteau,  you  said,  or  I  said  — 
I  forget  which  —  that  he  ought  not  to  leave  us  without  a 
peep  at  our  coast  scenery." 

"I  remember  all  that;  but  what  I  meant  was,  that  his  com- 
ing here  from  Castello  was  no  accident.  He  never  left  a 
French  cook  and  Chateau  Lafitte  for  cold  mutton  and  sour 
sherry  without  some  reason  for  it." 


GEORGE   AND  JULIA.  179 

"You  forget,  George,  he  was  on  his  way  to  Lisconnor 
when  he  came  here.     He  was  going  to  visit  the  mines." 

"  By  the  by,  that  reminds  me  of  a  letter  I  got  this  even- 
ing. I  put  it  in  my  pocket  without  reading.  Is  n't  that 
Vickars'  hand?" 

"Yes;  it  is  his  reply,  perhaps,  to  my  letter.  He  is  too 
correct  and  too  prudent  to  write  to  myself,  and  sends  the 
answer  to  you." 

"As  our  distinguished  guest  is  uot  here  to  be  shocked, 
Julia,  let  us  hear  what  Vickars  says." 

'"My  dear  Mr.  L'Estrange,  I  have  before  me  a  letter 
from  your  sister,  expressing  a  wish  that  I  should  consent 
to  the  withdrawal  of  the  sum  of  two  thousand  pounds,  now 
vested  in  consols  under  my  trusteeship,  and  employ  these 
moneys  in  a  certain  enterprise  which  she  designates  as  the 
coal-mines  of  Lisconnor.  Before  acceding  to  the  grave 
responsibility  which  this  change  of  investment  would  im- 
pose upon  me,  even  supposing  that  the  Master  '  —  who  is 
the  Master,   George?" 

"Go  on;  read  further,"  said  he,  curtly. 
" '  —  that  the  Master  would  concur  with  such  a  procedure, 
I  am  desirous  of  hearing  what  you  yourself  know  of  the 
speculation  in  question.  Have  you  seen  and  conversed 
with  the  engineers  who  have  made  the  surveys?  Have  you 
heard  from  competent  and  unconcerned  parties  —  ?  '  Oh, 
George,  it 's  so  like  the  way  he  talks.     I  can't  read  on." 

L'Estrange  took  the  letter  from  her  and  glanced  rapidly 
over  the  lines;  and  then  turning  to  the  last  page  read  aloud: 
"'How  will  the  recommendation  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Com- 
missioners affect  you  touching  the  union  of  Portshandon 
with  KilmuUock?  Do  they  simply  extinguish  you,  or  have 
you  a  claim  for  compensation  ? '  " 

"What  does  he  mean,  George?  "  cried  she,  as  she  gazed 
at  the  pale  face  and  agitated  expression  of  her  brother  as 
he  laid  down  the  letter  before  her. 

"It  is  just  extinguishment;  that 's  the  word  for  it,"  mut- 
tered he.  "When  they  unite  the  parishes,  they  suppress 
me." 

"Oh,  George,  don't  say  that;  it  has  not  surely  come  to 
this?" 


180  THE   BKAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

''There  's  no  help  for  it,"  said  he,  putting  away  his  glass, 
and  leaning  his  head  on  his  hand.  "I  was  often  told  they  'd 
do  something  like  this;  and  when  Grimsby  was  here  to 
examine  the  books  and  make  notes,- — you  remember  it  was 
a  wet  Sunday,  and  nobody  came  but  the  clerk's  mother, — 
he  said,  as  we  left  the  church,  '  The  congregation  is  orderly 
and  attentive,  but  not  numerous.'  " 

"I  told  you,  George,  I  detested  that  man.  I  said  at  the 
time  he  was  no  friend  to  you.^* 

"If  he  felt  it  his  duty  —  " 

"Duty,  indeed!  I  never  heard  of  a  cruelty  yet  that 
had  n't  the  plea  of  a  duty.  I  'm  sure  Captain  Craufurd 
comes  to  church,  and  Mrs.  Bayley  comes,  and  as  to  the 
great  house,  there  's  a  family  there  of  not  less  than  thirty 
persons." 

''When  Grimsby  w^as  here  Castello  was  not  occupied." 

"Well,  it  is  occupied  now;  and  if  Colonel  Bramleigh  be 
a  person  of  the  influence  he  assumes  to  be,  and  if  he  cares  — 
as  I  take  it  he  must  care  —  not  to  live  like  a  heathen,  he  '11 
prevent  this  cruel  wrong.  I  'm  not  sure  that  Nelly  has 
much  weight;  but  she  would  do  anything  in  the  world  for 
us,  and  I  think  Augustus,  too,  would  befriend  us." 

"What  can  they  all  do?  It's  a  question  for  the  Com- 
missioners." 

"So  it  may;  but  I  take  it  the  Commissioners  are  human 
beings." 

He  turned  again  to  the  letter  which  lay  open  on  the  table, 
and  read  aloud,  "'  They  want  a  chaplain,  I  see,  at  Albano, 
near  Rome.  Do  you  know  any  one  who  could  assist  you  to 
the  appointment?  —  always  providing  that  you  w^ould  like 
it.'     I  should  think  I  would  like  it." 

"You  were  thinking  of  the  glorious  riding  over  the  Cam- 
pagna,  George,  that  you  told  me  about  long  ago?" 

"I  hope  not,"  said  he,  blushing  deeply,  and  looked  over- 
whelmed with  confusion. 

"Well,  /was,  George.  Albano  reminded  me  at  once  of 
those  long  moonlight  canters  you  told  me  about,  with  the 
grand  old  city  in  the  distance.  I  almost  fancy  I  have  seen 
it  all.  Let  us  bethink  us  of  the  great  people  we  know,  and 
who  would  aid  us  in  the  matter." 


GEORGE    AND  JULIA.  181 

''The  list  begins  and  ends  with  the  Lord  Culduff,  I 
suspect." 

"Not  at  all.  It  is  the  Bramleighs  can  be  of  use  here. 
Lady  Augusta  lives  at  Rome;  she  must  be,  I'm  sure,  a 
person  of  influence  there,  and  be  well  known  too,  and  know 
all  the  English  of  station.  It 's  a  downright  piece  of  good 
fortune  for  us  she  should  be  there.  There,  now,  be  of 
good  heart,  and  don't  look  wretched.  We  '11  drive  over  to 
Castello  to-morrow." 

"They  've  been  very  cool  towards  us  of  late." 

"As  much  our  fault  as  theirs,  George;  some,  certainly, 
was   my   own." 

"Oh,  Vickars  has  heard  of  her.  He  says  here,  'Is  the 
Lady  Augusta  Bramleigh,  who  has  a  villa  at  Albano,  any 
relative  of  your  neighbor  Colonel  Bramleigh?  She  is  very 
eccentric,  —  some  say  mad;  but  she  does  what  she  likes 
with  every  one.     Try  and  procure  a  letter  to  her.'  " 

"It's  all  as  well  as  settled,  George.  We'll  be  cantering 
over  that  swelling  prairie  before  the  spring  ends,"  said  she. 
Quietly  rising  and  going  over  to  the  piano,  she  began  one 
of  those  little  popular  Italian  ballads  which  they  call  "  Stor- 
nelli,"  —  those  light  effusions  of  national  life  which  blend 
up  love  and. flowers  and  sunshine  together  so  pleasantly, 
and  seem  to  emblematize  the  people  who  sing  them. 

"Thither,  oh,  thither,  George!  as  the  girl  sings  in 
Goethe's  ballad.     Won't  it   be   delightful?" 

"First  let  us  see  if  it  be  possible." 

And  then  they  began  one  of  those  discussions  of  ways 
and  means  which,  however,  as  we  grow  old  in  life,  are 
tinged  with  all  the  hard  and  stern  characters  of  sordid  self- 
interest,  are  in  our  younger  days  blended  so  thoroughly 
with  hope  and  trustfulness  that  they  are  amongst  the  most 
attractive  of  all  the  themes  we  can  turn  to.  There  were  so 
many  things  to  be  done,  and  so  little  to  do  them  with,  that 
it  was  marvellous  to  hear  of  the  cunning  and  ingenious 
devices  by  which  poverty  was  to  be  cheated  out  of  its  mean- 
ness, and  actually  imagine  itself  picturesque.  George  was 
not  a  very  imaginative  creature ;  but  it  was  strange  to  see 
to  what  flights  he  rose  as  the  sportive  fancy  of  the  high- 
spirited  girl  carried  him  away  to  the  region  of  the  specula- 
tive and  the  hopeful. 


182  THF/BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

"It's  just  as  well,  after  all,  perhaps,"  said  he,  after  some 
moments  of  thought,  "  that  we  had  not  invested  your  money 
in  the  mine." 

"Of  course,  George,  we  shall  want  it  to  buy  vines  and 
orange-trees.  Oh,  I  shall  grow  mad  with  impatience  if  I 
talk  of  this  much  longer!  Do  you  know,"  said  she,  in  a 
more  collected  and  serious  tone,  "I  have  just  built  a  little 
villa  on  the  lake-side  of  Albano?  And  I'm  doubting 
whether  I  '11  have  my  'pergolato '  of  vines  next  to  the  water, 
or  facing  the  mountain.     I  incline  to  the  mountain." 

"We  mustn't  dream  of  building,"  said  he,  gravely. 

"We  must  dream  of  everything,  George.  It  is  in  dream- 
land I  am  going  to  live.  Why  is  this  gift  of  fancy  bestowed 
upon  us  if  not  to  conjure  up  allies  that  will  help  us  to  fight 
the  stern  evils  of  life?  Without  imagination,  hope  is  a 
poor,  weary,  plodding  foot-traveller,  painfully  lagging 
behind  us.  Give  him  but  speculation,  and  he  soars  aloft 
on  wings  and  rises  towards  heaven." 

"Do  be  reasonable,  Julia,  and  let  us  decide  what  steps 
we  shall  take." 

"Let  me  just  finish  my  boat-house;  I  'm  putting  an  aviary 
on  the  top  of  it.  Well,  don't  look  so  pitifully;  I  am  not 
going  mad.  Now,  then,  for  the  practical.  We  are  to  go 
over  to  Castello  to-morrow,   early,   I  suppose?" 

"Yes;  I  should  say  in  the  morning,  before  Colonel  Bram- 
leigh  goes  into  his  study.  After  that  he  dislikes  being 
disturbed.  I  mean  to  speak  to  him  myself.  You  must 
address  yourself  to  Marion." 

"The  forlorn  hope  always  falls  to  my  share,"  said  she, 
poutingly. 

"Why,  you  were  the  best  friends  in  the  world  till  a  few 
days  back ! " 

"You  men  can  understand  nothing  of  these  things.  You 
neither  know  the  nice  conditions  nor  the  delicate  reserves 
of  young  lady  friendships ;  nor  have  you  the  slightest  con- 
ception of  how  boundless  we  can  be  in  admiration  of  each 
other  in  the  imagined  consciousness  of  something  very 
superior  in  ourselves,  and  which  makes  all  our  love  a  very 
generous  impulse.  There  is  so  much  coarseness  in  male 
friendships,  that  you  understand  none  of  these  subtle 
distinctions." 


GEORGE   AND   JULLV.  183 

*'I  was  goiii^  to  say,  thauk  Heaven  we  don't." 

"You  are  grateful  for  very  little,  George.  I  assure  you 
there  is  a  great  charm  in  these  fine  affinities,  and  remember, 
you  men  are  not  necessarily  always  rivals.  Your  roads  in 
life  are  so  numerous  and  so  varied,  that  you  need  not  jostle. 
We  women  have  but  one  path,  and  one  goal  at  the  end  of 
it;  and  there  is  no  small  generosity  in  the  kindliness  we 
extend  to  each  other." 

They  talked  away  late  into  the  night  of  the  future.  Once 
or  twice  the  thought  flashed  across  Julia  whether  she  ought 
not  to  tell  of  what  had  passed  between  Lord  Culduff  and 
herself.  She  was  not  quite  sure  but  that  George  ought  to 
hear  it;  but  then  a  sense  of  delicacy  restrained  her  —  a 
delicacy  that  extended  to  that  old  man  who  had  made  her 
the  offer  of  his  hand,  and  who  would  not  for  worlds  have 
it  known  that  his  offer  had  been  rejected.  "No,"  thought 
she,  "his  secret  shall  be  respected.  As  he  deemed  me 
worthy  to  be  his  wife,  he  shall  know  that  so  far  as  regards 
respect  for  his  feelings  he  had  not  over-estimated  me." 

It  was  all  essential,  however,  that  her  brother  should  not 
think  of  enlisting  Lord  Culduff  in  his  cause,  or  asking  his 
Lordship's  aid  or  influence  in  anyway;  and  when  L'Estrange 
carelessly  said,  ''Could  not  our  distinguished  friend  and 
guest  be  of  use  here?"  she  hastened  to  reply,  "Do  not 
think  of  that,  George.  These  men  are  so  victimized  by 
appeals  of  this  sort  that  they  either  flatly  refuse  their  assist- 
ance, or  give  some  flippant  promise  of  an  aid  they  never 
think  of  according.  It  would  actually  fret  me  if  I  thought 
we  were  to  owe  anything  to  such  intervention.  In  fact," 
said  she,  laughingly,  "it's  quite  an  honor  to  be  his  ac- 
quaintance. It  would  be  something  very  like  a  humiliation 
to  have  him  for  a  friend.  And  now  good-night.  You 
won't  believe  it,  perhaps;  but  it  wants  but  a  few  minutes 
to  two  o'clock." 

"People,  I  believe,  never  go  to  bed  in  Italy,"  said  he, 
yawning;  "or  only  in  the  day-time.  So  that  we  are  in 
training  already,  Julia." 

"How  I  hope  the  match  may  come  off,"  said  she,  as  she 
gave  him  her  hand  at  parting.  "  I  '11  go  and  dream  over 
it." 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

IN    THE    LIBRARY    AT    CASTELLO. 

When  L' Estrange  and  his  sister  arrived  at  Castello,  on  the 
morning  after  the  scene  of  our  last  chapter,  it  was  to  dis- 
cover that  the  family  had  gone  off  early  to  visit  the  mine 
of  Lisconnor,  where  they  were  to  dine,  and  not  return  till 
late  in  the  evening. 

Colonel  Bramleigh  alone  remained  behind.  A  number  of 
important  letters  which  had  come  by  that  morning's  post 
detained  him ;  but  he  had  pledged  himself  to  follow  the 
party,  and  join  them  at  dinner,  if  he  could  finish  his  cor- 
respondence in  time. 

George  and  Julia  turned  away  from  the  door,  and  were 
slowly  retracing  their  road  homeward,  when  a  servant  came 
running  after  them  to  say  that  Colonel  Bramleigh  begged 
Mr.  L'Estrange  would  come  back  for  a  moment;  that  he 
had   something  of  consequence  to  say  to  him. 

"I'll  stroll  about  the  shrubberies,  George,  till  you  join 
me,"  said  Julia.  "Who  knows  it  may  not  be  a  farewell 
look  I  may  be  taking  of  these  dear  old  scenes." 

George  nodded,  half  mournfully,  and  followed  the  servant 
towards  the  library. 

In  his  ordinary  and  every-day  look,  no  man  ever  seemed 
a  more  perfect  representative  of  worldly  success  and  pros- 
perity than  Colonel  Bramleigh.  He  was  personally  what 
would  be  called  handsome,  had  a  high  bold  forehead,  and 
large  gray  eyes,  well  set  and  shaded  by  strong  full  eyebrows, 
so  regular  in  outline  and  so  correctly  defined  as  to  give 
a  half-suspicion  that  art  had  been  called  to  the  assistance 
of  nature.  He  was  ruddy  and  fresh-looking,  with  an  erect 
carriage,  and  that  air  of  general  confidence  that  seemed  to 


IN   THE   LIBRARY   AT   CASTELLO.  185 

declare  he  knew  himself  to  be  a  favorite  of  fortune,  and 
gloried   in  the  distinction. 

*'I  can  do  scores  of  things  others  must  not  venture  upon," 
was  a  common  saying  of  his.  "I  can  trust  to  my  luck," 
was  almost  a  maxim  with  him.  And  in  reality,  if  the 
boast  was  somewhat  vainglorious,  it  was  not  without  foun- 
dation; a  marvellous,  almost  unerring,  success  attended 
him  through  life.  Enterprises  that  were  menaced  with  ruin 
and  bankruptcy  would  rally  from  the  hour  that  he  joined 
them,  and  schemes  of  fortune  that  men  deepied  half  desper- 
ate would,  under  his  guidance,  grow  into  safe  and  profitable 
speculations.  Others  might  equal  him  in  intelligence,  in 
skill,  in  ready  resource  and  sudden  expedient,  but  he  had 
not  one  to  rival  him  in  luck.  It  is  strange  enough  that 
the  hard  business  mind,  the  men  of  realism  par  excellence^ 
can  recognize  such  a  thing  as  fortune;  but  so  it  is,  there 
are  none  so  prone  to  believe  in  this  quality  as  the  people 
of  finance.  The  spirit  of  the  gambler  is,  in  fact,  the  spirit 
of  commercial  enterprise,  and  the  "odds"  are  as  carefully 
calculated  in  the  counting-house  as  in  the  betting-ring. 
Seen  as  he  came  into  the  breakfast  room  of  a  morning,  with 
the  fresh  flush  of  exercise  on  his  cheek,  or  as  he  api^eared 
in  the  drawing-room,  before  dinner,  with  that  air  of  ease 
and  enjoyment  that  marked  all  his  courtesy,  one  would  have 
said,  "There  is  one  certainly  with  whom  the  world  goes 
well.  "  There  were  caustic,  invidious  people,  who  hinted 
that  Bramleigh  deserved  but  little  credit  for  that  happy 
equanimity  and  that  buoyant  spirit  which  sustained  him. 
They  said,  "He  has  never  had  a  reverse;  wait  till  he  be 
tried.'*  And  the  world  had  waited  and  waited,  and  to  all 
seeming  the  eventful  hour  had  not  come;  for  there  he  was, 
a  little  balder,  perhaps,  a  stray  gra^  hair  in  his  whiskers, 
and  somewhat  portlier  in  his  presence,  but,  on  the  whole, 
pretty  much  what  men  had  known  him  to  be  for  fifteen  oi 
twenty  years  back. 

Upon  none  did  the  well-to-do,  blooming,  and  prosperous 
rich  man  produce  a  more  powerful  impression  than  on  the 
young  curate,  who,  young,  vigorous,  handsome  as  he  was, 
could  yet  never  sufficiently  emerge  from  the  res  angustve 
domi  to  feel  the  ease  and  confidence  that  come  of  affluence. 


186  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

What  a  shock  was  it  then  to  L'Estrange,  as  he  entered  the 
library,  to  see  the  man  whom  he  had  ever  beheld  as  the  type 
of  all  that  was  happy  and  healthful  and  prosperous,  haggard 
and  careworn,  his  hand  tremulous,  and  his  manner  abrupt 
and  uncertain,  with  a  certain  furtive  dread  at  moments, 
followed  by  outbursts  of  passionate  defiance,  as  though  he 
were  addressing  himself  to  others  besides  him  who  was  then 
before  him. 

Though  on  terms  of  cordial  intimacy  with  the  curate,  and 
always  accustomed  to  call  him  by  his  name,  he  received 
him  as  he  entered  the  room  with  a  cold  and  formal  polite- 
ness, apologized  for  having  taken  the  liberty  to  send  after 
and  recall  him,  and  ceremoniously  requested  him  to  be 
seated. 

"We  were  sorry  you  and  Miss  L'Estrange  could  not  join 
the  picnic  to-day,"  said  Bramleigh;  "though,  to  be  sure, 
it  is  scarcely  the  season  yet  for  such  diversions." 

L'Estrange  felt  the  awkwardness  of  saying  that  they  had 
not  been  invited,  and  muttered  something  not  very  intelli- 
gible about  the  uncertainty  of  the  weather. 

''I  meant  to  have  gone  over  myself,"  said  Bramleigh, 
hurriedly;  "but  all  these,"  —  and  he  swept  his  hand,  as  he 
spoke,  through  a  mass  of  letters  on  the  table,  —  "  all  these 
have  come  since  morning,  and  I  am  not  half  through  them 
yet.  What  's  that  the  moralist  says  about  calling  no  man 
happy  till  he  dies?  I  often  think  one  cannot  speculate 
upon  a  pleasant  day  till  after  the  post-hour." 

"I  know  very  little  of  either  the  pains  or  pleasures  of  the 
letter-bag.     I  have  almost  no  correspondence." 

"How  I  envy  you!"  cried  he,  fervently. 

''  I  don't  imagine  that  mine  is  a  lot  many  would  be  found 
to  envy,"  said  L'Estrange,  with  a  gentle  smile. 

"The  old  story,  of  course.  'Qui  fit,  Maecenas,  ut  Nemo' 
—  I  forget  my  Horace  —  'ut  Nemo; '  how  does  it  go?  " 

"Yes,  sir.  But  I  never  said  I  was  discontented  with  my 
lot  in  my  life.  I  only  remarked  that  I  did  n't  think  that 
others  would  envy  it." 

"I  have  it, — I  have  it,"  continued  Bramleigh,  following 
out  his  own  train  of  thought,  —"I  have  it.  'Ut  Nemo, 
quam  sibi  sortem  sit  contentus.'     It 's  a  matter  of  thirty 


IN  THE   LIBRARY   AT   CASTELLO.  187 

odd  years  since  I  saw  that  passage,  L'Estrange,  and  I  can't 
imagine  what  could  have  brought  it  so  forcibly  before  me 
to-day." 

"  Certainly  it  could  not  have  been  any  application  to 
yourself,"  said  the  curate,  politely. 

"How  do  you  mean,  sir?"  cried  Bramleigh,  almost 
fiercely.     "How  do  you  mean?" 

"1  mean,  sir,  that  few  men  have  less  cause  for  discontent 
with  fortune." 

"  How  can  you  —  how  can  any  man,  presume  to  say  that 
of  another  I  "  said  Bramleigh,  in  a  loud  and  defiant  tone,  as 
he  arose  and  paced  the  room.  "  Who  can  tell  what  passes 
in  his  neighbor's  house,  still  less  in  his  heart  or  his  head? 
What  do  1  know,  as  I  listen  to  your  discourse  on  a  Sunday, 
of  the  terrible  conflict  of  doubts  that  have  beset  you  dur- 
ing the  week  —  heresies  that  have  swarmed  arouiid  you  like 
the  vipers  and  hideous  reptiles  that  gathered  around  St. 
Anthony,  and  that,  banished  in  one  shape,  came  back  in 
another?  How  do  I  know  what  compromises  you  may  have 
made  with  your  conscience  before  you  come  to  utter  to  me 
your  eternal  truths;  and  how  you  may  have  said,  'If  he  can 
believe  all  this,   so  much  the  better  for  him' — eh?" 

He  turned  fiercely  round,  as  if  to  demand  an  answer;  and 
the  curate  modestly  said,  "I  hope  it  is  not  so  that  men 
preach  the  gospel." 

"And  yet  many  must  preach  in  that  fashion,"  said  Bram- 
leigh, with  a  deep  but  subdued  earnestness.  "I  take  it 
that  no  man's  convictions  are  without  a  flaw  somewhere, 
and  it  is  not  by  parading  that  flaw  he  will  make  converts." 

L'Estrange  did  not  feel  disposed  to  follow  him  into  this 
thesis,   and  sat  silent  and  motionless. 

"I  suppose,"  muttered  Bramleigh,  as  he  folded  his  arms 
and  walked  the  room  with  slow  steps,  "it 's  all  expediency, 
—  all !  We  do  the  best  we  can,  and  hope  it  may  be  enough. 
You  are  a  good  man,  L'Estrange  — " 

"Far  from  it,  sir.  I  feel,  and  feel  very  bitterly,  too,  my 
own  un worthiness,"  said  the  curate,  with  an  intense  sin- 
cerity of  voice. 

"  I  think  you  so  far  good  that  you  are  not  worldly.  You 
would  not  do  a  mean  thing,  an  ignoble,  a  dishonest  thing; 


188  rilK   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

you  would  n't  take  what  was  not  your  own,  nor  defraud 
another  of  what  was  his, — would  you?" 

"Perhaps  not;  I  hope  not." 

*'  And  yet  that  is  saying  a  great  deal.  I  may  have  my 
doubts  whether  that  penknife  be  mine  or  not.  Some  one 
may  come  to-morrow  or  next  day  to  claim  it  as  his,  and 
describe  it,  Heaven  knows  how  rightly  or  wrongly.  No 
matter,  he  '11  say  he  owns  it.  Would  you,  sir,  —  J  ask  you 
now  simply  as  a  Christian  man,  I  am  not  speaking  to  a 
casuist  or  a  lawyer,  —  would  you,  sir,  at  once,  just  as  a 
measure  of  peace  to  your  own  conscience,  say,  'Let  him 
take,'  rather  than  burden  your  heart  with  a  discussion  for 
which  you  had  no  temper  nor  taste?  That's  the  ques- 
tion I  'd  like  to  ask  you.  Can  you  answer  it?  I  see 
you  cannot,"  cried  he,  rapidly.  "I  see  at  once  how  you 
want  to  go  off  into  a  thousand  subtleties,  and  instead  of 
resolving  my  one  doubt,  surround  me  with  a  legion  of 
others." 

"If  I  know  anything  about  myself  I  'm  not  much  of  a 
casuist;  I  haven't  the  brains  for  it,"  said  L'Estrauge, 
with  a  sad  smile. 

"Ay,  there  it  is.  That 's  the  humility  of  Satan's  own 
making;  that's  the  humility  that  exclaims,  'I'm  only 
honest.  I  'm  no  genius.  Heaven  has  not  made  me  great 
or  gifted.  I  'm  simply  a  poor  creature,  right-minded  and 
pure-hearted.'  As  if  there  was  anything,  —  as  if  there 
could  be  anything  so  exalted  as  this  same  purity." 

"But I  never  said  that;  I  never  presumed  to  say  so,"  said 
the  other,   modestly. 

"And  if  you  rail  against  riches,  and  tell  me  that  wealth 
is  a  snare  and  a  pitfall,  what  do  you  mean  by  telling  me 
that  my  reverse  of  fortune  is  a  chastisement?  Why,  sir, 
by  your  own  theory  it  ought  to  be  a  blessing,  —  a  positive 
blessing;  so  that  if  I  were  turned  out  of  this  princely  house 
to-morrow,  branded  as  a  pretender  and  an  impostor,  I 
should  go  forth  better,  —  not  only  better,  but  happier.  Ay, 
that's  the  point;  happier  than  I  ever  was  as  the  lord  of 
these  broad  acres!  "  As  he  spoke  he  tore  his  cravat  from 
his  throat,  as  though  it  were  strangling  him  by  its  pressure, 
and  now  walked  the  room,   carrying  the  neckcloth  in  his 


IN   THE  LIBRARY   AT   CASTELLO.  189 

hand,  while  the  veins  in  his  throat  stood  out  full  and 
swollen  like  a  tangled  cordage. 

L'Estrange  was  so  much  frightened  by  the  wild  voice  and 
wilder  gesture  of  the  man,  that  he  could  not  utter  a  word 
in  reply. 

Bramleigh  now  came  over,  and  leaning  his  hand  on  the 
other's  shoulder,  in  a  tone  of  kind  and  gentle  meaning, 
said, — 

"It  is  not  your  fault,  my  dear  friend,  that  you  are  illogi- 
cal and  unreasonable.  You  are  obliged  to  defend  a  thesis 
you  do  not  understand,  by  arguments  you  cannot  measure. 
The  armory  of  the  Church  has  not  a  w^eapon  that  has  not 
figured  in  the  Middle  Ages;  and  what  are  you  to  do  with 
halberds  and  cross-bows  in  a  time  of  rifles  and  revolvers! 
If  a  man,  like  myself,  burdened  with  a  heavy  weight  on  his 
heart,  had  gone  to  his  confessor  in  olden  times,  he  would 
probably  have  heard,  if  not  words  of  comfort,  something 
to  enlighten,  to  instruct,  and  to  guide  him.  Now  what  can 
you  give  me?  tell  me  that?  I  want  to  hear  by  what  subtle- 
ties the  Church  can  reconcile  me  not  to  do  what  I  ought 
to  do,  and  yet  not  quarrel  with  my  own  conscience.  Can 
you  help  me  to  that?" 

L'Estrange  shook  his  head  in  dissent. 

"1  suppose  it  is  out  of  some  such  troubles  as  mine  that 
men  come  to  change  their  religion."  He  paused;  and  then 
bursting  into  a  laugh,  said,  "You  hear  that  the  other  bank 
deals  more  liberall}^,  —  asks  a  smaller  commission,  and 
gives  you  a  handsomer  interest,  —  and  you  accordingly 
transfer  your  account.     I  believe  that 's  the  whole  of  it." 

"I  will  not  say  you  have  stated  the  case  fairly,"  said 
L'Estrange ;  but  so  faintly  as  to  show  that  he  was  far  from 
eager  to  continue  the  discussion,  and  he  arose  to  take  his 
leave. 

"You  are  going  already?  and  I  have  not  spoken  to  you 
one  word  about,  —  what  was  it?  Can  you  remember 
what  it  was?  Something  that  related  personally  to  your- 
self." 

"Perhaps  I  can  guess,  sir.  It  was  the  mine  at  Liscon- 
nor,  probably?  You  were  kind  enough  the  other  day  to 
arrange  my  securing  some  shares  in  the  undertaking.     Since 


190  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

that,  however,  I  have  heard  a  piece  of  news  which  may  affect 
my  whole  future  career.  There  has  been  some  report  made 
by  the  Commissioner  about  the  parish." 

"That 's  it,  that 's  it.  They  're  going  to  send  you  off, 
L'Estrange.  They  're  going  to  draft  you  to  a  cathedral, 
and  make  a  prebendary  of  you.  You  are  to  be  on  the  staff 
of  an  archbishop,  —  a  sort  of  Christian  unattached.  Do 
you  like  the  prospect?" 

"Not  at  all,  sir.  To  begin,  I  am  a  very  poor  man,  and 
could  ill  bear  the  cost  of  life  this  might  entail." 

"Your  sister  would  probably  be  pleased  with  the  change; 
a  gayer  place,   more  life,   more  movement." 

"I  suspect  my  sister  reconciles  herself  to  duluess  even 
better  than  myself." 

"Girls  do  that  occasionally;  patience  is  a  female  virtue." 

There  was  a  slight  pause;  and  now  L'Estrange,  drawing 
a  long  breath,  as  if  preparing  himself  for  a  great  effort, 
said, — 

"  It  was  to  speak  to  you,  sir,  about  that  very  matter,  and 
to  ask  your  assistance,  that  I  came  up  here  this  day." 

"I  wish  I  were  a  bishop,  for  your  sake,  my  dear 
friend." 

"I  know  well,  sir,  I  can  count  upon  your  kind  interest  in 
me,  and  1  believe  that  an  opportunity  now  offers  —  " 

"What  is  it?  where  is  it?  " 

"At  Rome,  sir;  or  rather  near  Rome, — a  place  called 
Albano.     They  want  a  chaplain  there." 

"But  you're  not  a  Catholic  priest,  L'Estrange." 

"No,  sir.  It  is  an  English  community  that  wants  a 
parson." 

"I  see;  and  you  think  this  would  suit  you?  " 

"There  are  some  great  attractions  about  it;  the  country, 
the  climate,  and  the  sort  of  life,  all  have  a  certain  fascina- 
tion for  me,  and  Julia  is  most  eager  about  it." 

"The  young  lady  has  ambition,"  muttered  Bramleigh  to 
himself.  "But  what  can  1  do,  L'Estrange?  I  don't  own 
a  rood  of  land  at  Albano.  I  have  n't  a  villa,  —  not  even  a 
fig-tree  there.  I  could  subscribe  to  the  church  fund,  if 
there  be  such  a  thing;  I  could  qualify  for  the  franchise, 
and  give  you  a  vote,    if  that  would  be  of  service." 


IN  THE   LIBRARY  AT   CASTELLO.  191 

"You  could  do  better,  sir.  You  could  give  me  a  letter  to 
Lady  Augusta,  whose  influence,  I  believe,  is  all  powerful." 

For  a  moment  Bramleigh  stared  at  him  fixedly,  and  then 
sinking  slowly  into  a  chair,  he  leaned  his  head  on  his  hand, 
and  seemed  lost  in  thought.  The  name  of  Lady  Augusta 
had  brought  up  before  him  a  long  train  of  events  and  possi- 
ble consequences,  which  soon  led  him  far  away  from  the 
parson  and  all  his  cares.  From  her  debts,  her  extrava- 
gances, her  change  of  religion,  and  her  suggestion  of  sepa- 
ration, he  went  back  to  his  marriage  with  her,  and  even  to 
his  first  meeting.  Strange  chain  of  disasters  from  begin- 
ning to  end.  A  bad  investment  in  every  way.  It  paid 
nothing.     It  led  to  nothing. 

"I  hope,  sir,"  said  L'Estrange,  as  he  gazed  at  the  strange 
expression  of  preoccupation  in  the  other's  face,  —  "1  hope, 
sir,  I  have  not  been  indiscreet  in  my  request?" 

"What  was  your  request?"  asked  Colonel  Bramleigh, 
bluntly,  and  with  a  look  of  almost  sternness. 

v"I  had  asked  you,  sir,  for  a  letter  to  Lady  Augusta," 
said  the  curate,  half  offended  at  the  manner  of  the  last 
question. 

"A  letter  to  Lady  Augusta?"  repeated  Bramleigh,  dwell- 
ing on  each  word,  as  though  by  the  effort  he  could  recall  to 
his  mind  something  that  had  escaped  him. 

"I  mean,  sir,  with  reference  to  this  appointment,  —  the 
chaplaincy,"  interposed  L'Estrange;  for  he  was  offended  at 
the  hesitation,  which  he  thought  implied  reluctance  or  dis- 
inclination on  Colonel  Bramleigh's  part,  and  he  hastened  to 
show  that  it  was  not  any  claim  he  was  preferring  to  her 
ladyship's  acquaintance,  but  simply  his  desire  to  obtain 
her  interest  in  his  behalf. 

"Influence!  influence!"  repeated  Bramleigh  to  himself. 
"  I  have  no  doubt  she  has  influence ;  such  persons  generally 
have.  It  is  one  of  the  baits  that  catch  them.  This  little 
glimpse  of  power  has  a  marvellous  attraction  —  and  these 
churchmen  know  so  well  how  to  display  all  their  seductive 
arts  before  the  eager  eyes  of  the  newly  won  convert.  Yes, 
I  am  sure  you  are  right,  sir;  Lady  Augusta  is  one  most 
likely  to  have  influence  —  you  shall  have  the  letter  you  wish 
for.     I  do  not  say  I  will  write  it  to-day,  for  I  have  a  heavy 


192  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

press  of  correspondence  before  me;  but  if  you  will  come 
up  to-morrow,  by  luncheon  time,  or  to  dinner  —  w^hy  not 
dine  here?  " 

"I  think  I  'd  rather  come  up  early,  sir." 

''Well,  then,  early  be  it.  I  '11  have  the  letter  for  you.  I 
wish  I  could  remember  something  I  know  I  had  to  say  to 
you.  What  was  it?  What  was  it?  Nothing  of  much 
consequence,  perhaps;  but  still  I  feel  as  if  —  eh  —  don't 
you  feel  so  too  ?  " 

"I  have  not  the  slightest  clew,  sir,  to  what  you  mean." 

"It  wasn't  about  the  mine,  — no.  I  think  you  see  your 
way  there  clearly  enough.  It  may  be  a  good  thing,  or  it 
may  not.  Cutbill  is  like  the  rest  of  them;  not  a  greater 
rogue,  perhaps,  nor  need  he  be.  They  are  such  shrewd  fel- 
lows ;  and  as  the  money  is  your  sister's,  —  trust  money, 
too,  —  I  declare,   I'd  be  cautious." , 

L'Estrange  mumbled  some  words  of  assent;  he  saw  that 
Bramleigh's  manner  betokened  exhaustion  and  weariness, 
and  he  was  eager  to  be  gone.  "Till  to-morrow,  then,  sir," 
said  he,   moving  to  the  door. 

"You  '11  not  dine  with  us?  I  think  you  might,  though," 
muttered  Bramleigh,  half  to  himself.  "I'm  sure  Culduff 
would  make  no  show  of  awkwardness,  nor  would  your 
sister,  either  —  women  never  do.  But  do  just  what  you 
like;  my  head  is  aching  so,  I  believe  I  must  lie  down  for 
an   hour  or  two.     Do  you  pass  Belton's?" 

"  I  could  without  any  inconvenience.  Do  you  want 
him?" 

"I  fancy  I  'd  do  well  to  see  him;  he  said  something  of 
cupping  me  the  last  day  he  was  here,  —  would  you  mind 
telling  him  to  give  me  a  call?" 

"May  I  come  up  in  the  evening,  sir,  and  see  how  you 
are?" 

"In  the  evening?  this  evening?"  cried  Bramleigh,  in  a 
harsh,  discordant  voice.  "Why,  good  heavens,  sir!  have 
a  little,  a  very  little  discretion.  You  have  been  here  since 
eleven.  I  marked  the  clock.  It  was  not  full  five  minutes 
after  eleven,  when  you  came  in,  —  it 's  now  past  one.  Two 
mortal  hours,  and  you  ask  me  if  you  may  return  this  even- 
ing; and  I  reply,  sir,  distinctly  —  No!     Is  that  intelligible? 


IN  THE  LIBRARY  AT   CASTELLO.  193 

I  say  no ! "  As  he  spoke  he  turned  away,  and  the  curate, 
covered  with  shame  and  confusion,  hastened  out  of  the 
room,  and  down  the  stairs,  and  out  into  the  open  air, 
dreading  lest  he  should  meet  any  one,  and  actually  terrified 
at  the  thought  of  being  seen.  He  plunged  into  the  thickest 
of  the  shrubberies,  and  it  was  with  a  sense  of  relief  he 
heard  from  a  child  that  his  sister  had  gone  home  some  time 
before,  and  left  word  for  him  to  follow  her. 


13 


CHAPTER   XXIIT. 


THE    CURATE    CROSS-EXAMINED. 


When  the  party  returned  from  the  picnic,  it  was  to  find 
Colonel  Bramleigh  very  ill.  Some  sort  of  fit  the  doctor 
called  it,  —  not  apoplexy  nor  epilepsy,  but  something  that 
seemed  to  combine  features  of  both.  It  had,  he  thought, 
been  produced  by  a  shock  of  some  sort,  and  L'P^strange, 
who  had  last  been  with  him  before  his  seizure,  was  sum- 
moned to  impart  the  condition  in  which  he  had  found 
him,  and  whatever  might  serve  to  throw  light  on  the 
attack. 

If  the  curate  was  nervous  and  excited  by  the  tidings  that 
reached  him  of  the  Colonel's  state,  the  examination  to 
which  he  was  submitted  served  little  to  restore  calm  to  his 
system.  Question  after  question  poured  in.  Sometimes 
two  or  three  would  speak  together,  and  all  —  except  Ellen  — 
accosted  him  in  a  tone  that  seemed  half  to  make  him 
chargeable  with  the  whole  calamity.  When  asked  to  tell  of 
what  they  had  been  conversing,  and  that  he  mentioned  how 
Colonel  Bramleigh  had  adverted  to  matters  of  faith  and 
belief,  Marion,  in  a  whisper  loud  enough  to  be  overheard, 
exclaimed,  ''I  was  sure  of  it.  It  was  one  of  those  priestly 
indiscretions;  he  would  come  talking  to  papa  about  what 
he  calls  his  soul's  health,  and  in  this  way  brought  on  the 
excitement." 

"Did  you  not  perceive,  sir,"  asked  she,  fiercely,  "that  the 
topic  was  too  much  for  his  nerves?  Did  it  not  occur  to 
you  that  the  moment  was  inopportune  for  a  very  exciting 
subject?  " 

"Was  his  manner  easy  and  natural  when  you  saw  him 
first?  "  asked  Augustus. 


THE   CURATE   CROSS-EXAMINED.  195 

*'Had  he  been  reading  that  debate  on  Servia?  "  inquired 
Temple. 

^'Matter  enough  there,  by  Jove,  to  send  the  blood  to  a 
man's  head,"  cried  Culduff,  warmly. 

"I  'm  convinced  it  was  all  religious,"  chimed  in  Marion, 
who  triumphed  mercilessly  over  the  poor  parson's  confu- 
sion. "It  is  what  they  call  'in  season  and  out  of  season,' 
and  they  are  true  to  their  device ;  for  no  men  on  earth  more 
heartily  defy  the  dictates  of  tact  or  delicacy." 

"Oh,  Marion,  what  are  you  saying?"  whispered  Nelly. 

"It 's  no  time  for  honeyed  words,  Ellen,  in  the  presence 
of  a  heavy  calamity ;  but  I'd  like  to  ask  Mr.  L'Estrange 
why,  when  he  saw  the  danger  of  the  theme  they  were  dis- 
cussing,  he  did  not  try  to  change  the  topic." 

"So  I  did.  I  led  him  to  talk  of  myself  and  my 
interests." 

"An  admirable  antidote  to  excitement,  certainly,"  mut- 
tered Culduff  to  Temple,  who  seemed  to  relish  the  joke 
intensely. 

"You  say  that  my  father  had  been  reading  his  letters. 
Did  he  appear  to  have  received  any  tidings  to  call  for  un- 
usual anxiety?"  asked  Augustus. 

"I  found  him,  as  I  thought,  looking  very  ill,  careworn 
almost,  when  I  entered.  He  had  been  writing,  and  seemed 
fatigued  and  exhausted.  His  first  remark  to  me  was,  I 
remember,  a  mistake."  L'Estrange  here  stopped,  sud- 
denly. He  did  not  desire  to  repeat  the  speech  about  being 
invited  to  the  picnic.  It  would  have  been  an  awkwardness 
on  all  sides. 

"What  do  you  call  a  mistake,  sir?"  asked  Marion, 
calmly. 

"I  mean  he  asked  me  something  which  a  clearer  memory 
would  have  reminded  him  not  to  have  inquired  after." 

"  This  grows  interesting.  Perhaps  you  will  enlighten  us 
a  little  farther,  and  say  what  the  blunder  was." 

"Well,  he  asked  me  how  it  happened  that  Julia  and 
myself  were  not  of  the  picnic;  forgetting,  of  course,  that  we 
—  we  had  not  heard  of  it."  A  deep  flush  was  now  spread 
over  his  face  and  forehead,  and  he  looked  overwhelmed 
with  shame. 


196  THE   BRA]VILEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

"I  see  it  all;  I  see  the  whole  thing,"  said  Marion, 
triumphantly.  "It  was  out  of  the  worldliuess  of  the  picnic 
sprung  all  the  saintly  conversation  that  ensued." 

"No,  the  transition  was  more  gradual,"  said  L' Estrange, 
smiling;  for  he  was  at  last  amused  at  the  asperity  of  this 
cross-examination.  "Nor  was  there  what  you  call  any 
saintly  conversation  at  all.  A  few  remarks  Colonel  Bram- 
leigh  indeed  made  on  the  insufficiency  of,  not  the  Church, 
but  churchmen,  to  resolve  doubts  and  difficulties." 

"I  heartily  agree  with  him,"  broke  in  Lord  Culduff,  with 
a  smile  of  much  intended  significance. 

"And  is  it  possible;  are  we  to  believe  that  all  papa's 
attack  was  brought  on  by  a  talk  over  a  picnic?  "  asked 
Marion. 

"I  think  I  told  you  that  he  received  many  letters  by  the 
post,  and  to  some  of  them  he  adverted  as  being  very  im- 
portant and  requiring  immediate  attention.  One  that  came 
from  Rome  appeared  to  cause  him  much  excitement." 

Marion  turned  away  her  head  with  an  impatient  toss,  as 
though  she  certainly  was  not  going  to  accept  this  explana- 
tion as  sufficient. 

"I  shall  want  a  few  minutes  with  Mr.  L'Estrange  alone 
in  the  library,  if  I  may  be  permitted,"  said  the  doctor, 
who  had  now  entered  the  room  after  his  visit  to  the  sick 
man. 

"I  hope  you  may  be  more  successful  than  we  have  been," 
whispered  Marion,  as  she  sailed  out  of  the  room,  followed 
by  Lord  Culduff  ;  and  after  a  few  words  with  Augustus, 
the  doctor  and  L'Estrange  retired  to  confer  in  the  library. 

"Don't  flurry  me;  take  me  quietly.  Doctor,"  said  the 
curate,  with  a  piteous  smile.  "They've  given  me  such  a 
burster  over  the  deep  ground  that  I  'm  completely  blown. 
Do  you  know,"  added  he,  seriously,  "they've  cross-ques- 
tioned me  in  a  way  that  would  imply  that  I  am  the  cause  of 
this  sudden  seizure?" 

"No,  no;  they  couldn't  mean  that." 

"There  's  no  excuse  then  for  the  things  Miss  Bramleigh 
said  to  me." 

"  Remember  what  an  anxious  moment  it  is ;  people  don't 
measure  their  expressions  when  they  are  frightened.     When 


THE   CURATE   CROSS-EXAMINED.  197 

they  left  him  in  the  morning  he  was  in  his  usual  health 
and  spirits,  and  they  come  back  to  find  him  very  ill,  — 
dangerously  ill.  That  alone  would  serve  to  palliate  any 
unusual  show  of  eagerness.  Tell  me  now,  was  he  looking 
perfectly  himself?  was  he  in  his  ordinary  spirits,  when  you 
met  him?  " 

"No;  I  thought  him  depressed,  and  at  times  irritable." 

"I  see;  he  was  hasty  and  abrupt.  He  did  not  brook 
contradiction,   perhaps?" 

"I  never  went  that  far.  If  I  dissented  once  or  twice,  I 
did  so  mildly  and  even  doubtingly." 

*' Which  made  him  more  exacting  and  more  intolerant, 
you  would  say  ?  " 

"  Possibly  it  did.  I  remember  he  rated  me  rather  sharply 
for  not  being  contented  with  a  very  humble  condition  in 
life,  though  I  assured  him  I  felt  no  impatience  at  my  lowly 
state,  and  was  quite  satisfied  to  wait  till  better  should  befall 
me.  He  called  me  a  casuist  for  saying  this,  and  hinted 
that  all  churchmen  had  the  leaven  of  the  Jesuit  in  them; 
but  he  got  out  of  this  after  a  while,  and  promised  to  write 
a  letter  in  my  behalf." 

"And  which  he  told  me  you  would  find  sealed  and  ad- 
dressed on  this  table  here.     Here  it  is." 

''How  kind  of  him  to  remember  me  through  all  his 
suffering !  " 

"  He  said  something  about  it  being  the  only  reparation 
he  could  make  you;  but  his  voice  was  not  very  clear  or  dis- 
tinct, and  I  could  n't  be  sure  I  caught  his  words  correctly." 

"Reparation!  he  owed  me  none." 

"Well,  well,  it  is  possible  I  may  have  mistaken  him. 
One  thing  is  plain  enough;  you  cannot  give  me  any  clew  to 
this  seizure  beyond  the  guess  that  it  may  have  been  some 
tidings  he  received  by  post." 

L' Estrange  shook  his  head  in  silence,  and  after  a  moment 
said,   "Is  the  attack  serious?" 

"Highly  so." 

"And  is  his  life  in  danger?  " 

"A  few  hours  will  decide  that,  but  it  may  be  days  before 
we  shall  know  if  his  mind  will  recover.  Craythorpe  has 
been  sent  for  from  Dublin,  and  we  shall  have  his  opinion 


198  THE  BRAMLEIGIIS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

this  evening.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  mine  is 
unfavorable." 

"What  a  dreadful  thing,  and  how  fearfully  sudden.  I 
cannot  conceive  how  he  could  have  bethought  him  of  the 
letter  for  me  at  such  a  moment." 

"He  wrote  it,  he  said,  as  you  left  him;  you  had  not 
quitted  the  house  when  he  began.  He  said  to  me,  'I  saw 
I  was  growing  worse,  I  felt  my  confusion  was  gaining  on 
me,  and  a  strange  commixture  of  people  and  events  was 
occurring  in  my  head ;  so  I  swept  all  my  letters  and  papers 
into  a  drawer  and  locked  it,  wrote  the  few  lines  1  had 
promised,  and  with  my  almost  last  effort  of  consciousness 
rang  the  bell  for  my  servant.'" 

"But  he  was  quite  collected  when  he  told  you  this?  " 

"Yes,  it  was  in  one  of  those  lucid  intervals  when  the 
mind  shines  out  clear  and  brilliant;  but  the  effort  cost  him 
dearly:  he  has  not  rallied  from  it  since." 

"Has  he  over- worked  himself;  is  this  the  effect  of  an 
over-exerted  brain  ?  " 

"I  'd  call  it  rather  the  result  of  some  wounded  sensibility; 
he  appears  to  have  suffered  some  great  reverse  in  ambition 
or  in  fortune.  His  tone,  so  far  as  I  can  fathom  it,  implies 
intense  depression.  After  all,  we  must  say  he  met  much 
coldness  here.  The  people  did  not  visit  him,  there  was  no 
courtesy,  no  kindliness  shown  him;  and  though  he  seemed 
indifferent  to  it,  who  knows  how  he  may  have  felt  it?" 

"I  do  not  suspect  he  gave  any  encouragement  to  inti- 
macy; he  seemed  to  me  as  if  declining  acquaintance  with 
the   neighborhood." 

"Ay,  but  it  was  in  resentment,  T  opine;  but  you  ought 
to  know  best.     You  were  constantly  here?" 

"Yes,  very  frequently;  but  I  am  not  an  observant  per- 
son ;  all  the  little  details  which  convey  a  whole  narrative  to 
others  are  utterly  lost  upon  me.'* 

The  doctor  smiled.  It  was  an  expression  that  appeared 
to  say  he  concurred  in  the  curate's  version  of  his  own 
nature. 

"It  is  these  small  gifts  of  combining,  arranging,  sifting, 
and  testing,  that  we  doctors  have  to  cultivate,"  said  he,  as 
he  took  his  hat.     "  The  patient  the  most  eager  to  be  exact 


THE   CURATE   CROSS-EXAMINED.  199 

and  truthful  will,  in  spite  of  himself,  mislead  and  mis- 
guide us.  There  is  a  strange  bend  sinister  in  human 
nature,  against  sincerity,  that  will  indulge  itself  even  at 
the  cost  of  life  itself.  You  are  the  physician  of  the  soul, 
sir;  but  take  my  word  for  it,  you  might  get  many  a  shrewd 
hint  and  many  a  useful  suggestion  from  us,  the  meaner 
workmen  who  only  deal  with  nerves  and  arteries." 

As  he  wended  his  solitary  road  homewards,  L'P^strange 
pondered  thoughtfully  over  the  doctor's  words.  He  had  no 
need,  he  well  knew,  to  be  reminded  of  his  ignorance  of 
mankind;  but  here  was  a  new  view  of  it,  and  it  seemed 
immeasurable. 

On  the  whole  he  was  a  sadder  man  than  usual  on  that 
day.  The  world  around  him  —  that  narrow  circle  whose 
diameter  was  perhaps  a  dozen  miles  or  so  —  was  very 
sombre  in  its  coloring.  He  had  left  sickness  and  sorrow 
in  a  house  where  he  had  hitherto  only  seen  festivity  and 
pleasure;  and  worse  again,  as  regarded  himself,  he  had 
carried  away  none  of  those  kindlier  sympathies  and  friendly 
feelings  which  were  wont  to  greet  him  at  the  great  house. 
Were  they  really  then  changed  to  him?  and  if  so,  why  so? 
There  is  a  moral  chill  in  the  sense  of  estrangement  from 
those  we  have  lived  with  on  terms  of  friendship  that,  like 
the  shudder  that  precedes  ague,  seems  to  threaten  that 
worse  will  follow.  Julia  would  see  where  the  mischief  lay 
had  she  been  in  his  place.  Julia  would  have  read  the 
mystery,  if  there  were  a  mystery,  from  end  to  end ;  but  he^ 
he  felt  it,  —  he  had  no  powers  of  observation,  no  quick- 
ness, no  tact.  He  saw  nothing  that  lay  beneath  the  sur- 
face, nor,  indeed,  much  that  was  on  the  surface.  All  that 
he  knew  was,  that  at  the  moment  when  his  future  was  more 
uncertain  than  ever,  he  found  himself  more  isolated  and 
friendless  than  ever  he  remembered  to  have  been.  The  only 
set-off  against  all  this  sense  of  desertion  was  the  letter 
which  Colonel  Bramleigh  had  written  in  his  behalf,  and 
which  he  had  remembered  to  write  as  he  lay  suffering  on 
his  sick  bed.  He  had  told  the  doctor  where  to  find  it,  and 
said  it  lay  sealed  and  directed.  The  address  was  there, 
but  no  seal.  It  was  placed  in  an  open  envelope,  on  which 
was  written,  "Favored  by  the  Rev.  G.  L'Estrange."     Was 


200  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  EOLLY. 

the  omission  of  the  seal  accident  or  intention  ?  Most  prob- 
ably accident,  because  he  spoke  of  having  sealed  it.  And 
yet  that  might  have  been  a  mere  phrase  to  imply  that  the 
letter  was  finished.  Such  letters  were  probably,  in  most 
cases,  either  open,  or  only  closed  after  being  read  by  him 
who  bore  them.  Julia  would  know  this.  Julia  would  be 
able  to  clear  up  this  point,  thought  he,  as  he  pondered  and 
plodded  homeward. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

DOUBTS    AND    FEARS. 

**  And  here  is  the  letter,  Julia,"  said  L'Estrange,  as  they  sat 
at  tea  together  that  same  evening.  "Here  is  the  letter; 
and  if  I  were  as  clever  a  casuist  as  Colonel  Bramleigh 
thought  me,  I  should  perhaps  know  whether  I  have  the 
right  to  read  it  or  not." 

"Once  I  have  begun  to  discuss  such  a  point,  I  distrust 
my  judgment;  but  when  I  pronounce  promptly,  suddenly, 
out  of  mere  woman's  instinct,  I  have  great  faith  in  myself." 

"  And  how  does  your  woman's  instinct  incline  here?  " 

"  Not  to  read  it.  It  may  or  may  not  have  been  the  writ- 
er's intention  to  have  sealed  it;  the  omission  was  possibly 
a  mere  accident.  At  all  events,  to  have  shown  you  the 
contents  would  have  been  a  courtesy  at  the  writer's  option. 
He  was  not  so  inclined  — " 

"Stop  a  bit,  Julia,"  cried  he,  laughing.  "  Here  you  are 
arguing  the  case,  after  having  given  me  the  instinctive  im- 
pulse that  would  not  wait  for  logic.  Now,  I  '11  not  stand 
'  floggee  and  preachee'  too." 

"Don't  you  see,  sir,"  said  she,  with  a  mock  air  of  being 
offended,  "  that  the  very  essence  of  this  female  instinct  is 
its  being  the  perception  of  an  inspired  process  of  reasoning, 
an  instinctive  sense  of  right,  that  did  not  require  a  mental 
effort  to  arrive  at?  " 

"  And  this  instinctive  sense  of  right  says.  Don't  read?" 

"Exactly  so." 

"  Well,  I  don't  agree  with  you,"  said  he,  with  a  sigh.  "  I 
don't  know,  and  I  want  to  know,  in  what  light  Colonel 
Bramleigh  puts  me  forward.  Am  I  a  friend?  am  I  a  de- 
pendent? am  I  a  man  worth  taking  some  trouble  about?  or 
am  I  merely,  as  I  overheard  him  saying  to  Lord  Culduff,  '  a 
young  fellow  my  boys  are  very  fond  of  '  ?  " 


202  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

"  Oh,  George.     You  never  told  me  this." 

"Because  it's  Dot  safe  to  tell  you  anythiDg.  You  are 
sure  to  resent  things  you  ought  never  to  show  you  have 
known.  I'd  lay  my  life  on  it  that  had  you  heard  that 
speech,  you  'd  have  contrived  to  Introduce  it  into  some 
narrative  or  some  description  before  a  week  went  over." 

"Well,  it 's  a  rule  of  war,  if  the  enemy  fire  unfair  ammu- 
nition, you  may  send  it  back  to  him." 

"And  then,"  said  L'Estrange,  reverting  to  his  own  chan- 
nel of  thought,  "  and  then  it's  not  impossible  that  it  might 
be  such  a  letter  as  I  would  not  have  stooped  to  present." 

"  If  I  were  a  man,  nothing  would  induce  me  to  accept  a 
letter  of  introduction  to  any  one,"  said  she,  boldly.  "It 
puts  every  one  concerned  in  a  false  position.  '  Give  the 
bearer  ten  pounds '  is  intelligible ;  but  when  the  request  is, 
'  Be  polite  to  the  gentleman  who  shall  deliver  this ;  invite 
him  to  dine;  present  him  to  your  wife  and  daughters;  give 
him  currency  amongst  your  friends ; '  all  because  of  cer- 
tain qualities  which  have  met  favor  with  some  one  else ; 
why,  this  subverts  every  principle  of  social  intercourse ;  this 
strikes  at  the  root  of  all  that  lends  a  charm  to  intimacy.  / 
want  to  find  out  the  people  who  suit  me  in  life,  just  as  I 
want  to  display  the  traits  that  may  attract  others  to  me.** 

"I'd  like  to  know  what 's  inside  this,"  said  L'Estrange, 
who  only  half  followed  what  she  was  saying. 

"Shall  I  tell  you?"    said  she,  gravely. 

*'Do,  if  you  can." 

"  Here  it  is :  '  The  bearer  of  this  is  a  young  fellow  who 
has  been  our  parson  for  some  time  back,  and  now  wants  to 
be  yours  at  Albano.  There 's  not  much  harm  in  him ;  he 
is  well-born,  well-mannered,  preaches  but  twelve  minutes, 
and  rides  admirably  to  hounds.  Do  what  you  can  for  him ; 
and  believe  me  yours  truly." 

"If  I  thought—" 

"Of  course  you'd  put  it  in  the  fire,"  said  she,  finishing 
his  speech;  "and  I'd  have  put  it  there  though  it  should 
contain  something  exactly  the  reverse  of  all  this" 

"  The  doctor  told  me  that  Bramleigh  said  something  about 
a  reparation  that  he  owed  me ;  and  although  the  phrase, 
coming  from  a  man  in   his  state,   might  mean  nothing,   or 


DOUBTS   AND   FEARS.  203 

next  to  nothing,  it  still  keeps  recurring  to  my  mind,  and 
suggesting  an  eager  desire  to  know  what  he  could  point  to." 

"  Perhaps  his  conscience  pricked  him,  George,  for  not 
having  made  more  of  you  while  here.  I  'd  almost  say  it 
might  with  some  justice." 

"I  think  they  have  shown  us  great  attention  —  have 
been  most  hospitable  and  courteous  to  us." 

"  I  'm  not  a  fair  witness,  for  I  have  no  sort  of  gratitude 
for  social  civilities.  I  think  it 's  always  the  host  is  the 
obliged  person." 

*'  I  know  you  do,"  said  he,  smiling. 

''Who  knows,"  said  she,  warmly,  ''  if  he  has  not  found 
out  that  the  '-  young  fellow  the  boys  w^ere  so  fond  of  *  was 
worthy  of  favor  in  higher  quarters?  P^h,  George,  might 
not  this  give  the  clew  to  the  reparation  he  speaks  of?" 

"  I  can  make  nothing  of  H,'*  said  he,  as  he  tossed  the 
letter  on  the  table  with  an  impatient  movement.  "  I  '11  tell 
you  what  I  '11  do,  Julia,"  cried  he,  after  a  pause.  "  I'll  take 
the  letter  over  to  Castello  to-morrow,  and  ask  Augustus  if 
he  feels  at  liberty  to  read  it  to  me ;  if  he  opine  not,  I  '11 
get  him  to  sea.^  it  then  and  there." 

"But  suppose  he  consents  to  read  it,  and  suppose  it 
should  contain  something,  I  '11  not  say  offensive,  but  some- 
thing disagreeable,  something  that  you  certainly  would  not 
wish  to  have  said ;  will  you  be  satisfied  at  being  the  listener 
while  he  reads  it?  " 

''I  think  I'd  rather  risk  that  than  bear  my  present 
uncertainty." 

'*And  if  you'll  let  me,  George,  I'll  go  with  you.  ITi 
loiter  about  the  grounds,  and  you  can  tell  Nelly  where  to 
find  me,   if  she  wishes  to  see  me." 

"  By  the  way,  she  asked  me  why  you  had  not  been  to 
Castello ;  but  my  head  bemg  very  full  of  other  things,  I 
forgot  to  tell  you ;  and  then  there  was  something  else  I 
was  to  say." 

''Try  and  remember  it,  George,"  said  she,  coaxingly. 

"What  was  it?  Was  it?  —  no  —  it  couldn't  have  been 
about  Lord  Culduff  carrying  away  the  doctor  to  his  own 
room,  and  having  him  there  full  half  an  hour  in  consulta- 
tion before  he  saw  Colonel  Bramleio;h." 


204  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

*'Dicl  he  do  that?" 

*'  Yes.  It  was  some  redness,  or  some  heat,  or  something 
or  other  that  he  remarked  about  his  ears  after  eating.  Ko, 
no ;  it  was  n't  that.  I  remember  all  about  it  now.  It  was 
a  row  that  Jack  got  into  with  his  Admiral ;  he  did  n't  report 
himself,  or  he  reported  to  the  wrong  man,  or  he  went  on 
board  when  he  ought  n't ;  in  fact,  he  did  something  irregu- 
lar, and  the  Admiral  used  some  very  hard  language,  and 
Jack  rejoined,  and  the  upshot  is  he's  to  be  brought  before 
a  court-martial;  at  least  he  fears  so." 

"  Poor  fellow ;  what  is  to  become  of  him?  " 

*' Nelly  says  that  there  is  jet  time  to  apologize;  that 
the  Admiral  will  permit  him  to  retract  or  recall  what  he 
said,  and  that  his  brother  officers  say  he  ought  —  some  of 
them  at  least." 

"And  it  w^as  this  you  forgot  to  tell  me?"  said  she, 
reproachfully, 

"  No,  It  was  all  in  my  head,  but  along  with  so  many 
things  ;  and  then  I  was  so  badgered  and  bullied  by  the  cross- 
examination  they  submitted  me  to;  and  so  anxious  and 
uneasy,  that  it  escaped  me  till  now." 

"Oh,  George,  let  us  do  a  good-natured  thing;  let  us  go 
over  and  see  Nelly ;  she  '11  have  so  man}^  troubles  on  her 
heart,  she  '11  want  a  word  of  advice  and  kindness.  Let  us 
walk  over  there  now." 

"  It's  past  ten  o'clock,  Julia." 

"  Yes  ;  but  they  're  always  late  at  Castello." 

"  And  raining  heavily  besides;  —  listen  to  that!  " 

"What  do  we  care  for  rain?  did  bad  weather  ever  keep 
either  of  us  at  home  when  we  wished  to  be  abroad  ?  " 

"  We  can  go  to-morrow.  I  shall  have  to  go  to-morrow 
about  this  letter." 

"  But  if  we  wait  we  shall  lose  a  post.  Come,  George, 
get  your  coat  and  hat,  and  I'll  be  ready  in  an  instant." 

"  After  all,  it  will  seem  so  strange  in  us  presenting  our- 
selves at  such  an  hour,  and  in  such  a  trim.  I  don't  know 
how  we  shall  do  it." 

"Easily  enough.  I'll  go  to  Mrs.  Eady  the  housekeeper's 
room,  and  you'll  say  nothing  about  me,  except  to  Nelly; 
and  as  for  yourself,  it  will  be  only  a  very  natural  anxiety 


DOUBTS  AND  FEARS.  205 

on  your  part  to  learn  how  the  Colonel  is  doing.       There, 
now,  don't  delay.     Let  us  be  off  at  once." 

*'  I  declare  I  think  it  a  very  mad  excursion,  and  the 
only  thing  certain  to  come  of  it  will  be  a  heavy  cold  or  a 
fever." 

"And  we  face  the  same  risks  every  day  for  nothing. 
I'm  sure  wet  weather  never  kept  you  from  joining  the 
hounds." 

This  home-thrust  about  the  very  point  on  which  he  was 
then  smarting  decided  the  matter,  and  he  arose  and  left  the 
room  without  a  word. 

"  Yes,"  muttered  he,  as  he  mounted  the  stairs,  "  there  it 
is!  That's  .the  reproach  I  can  never  make  head  against. 
The  moment  they  say,  '  You  were  out  hunting,'  I  stand 
convicted  at  once." 

There  was  little  opportunity  for  talk  as  they  breasted 
the  beating  rain  on  their  way  to  Castello ;  great  sheets  of 
water  came  down  with  a  sweeping  wind,  which  at  times 
compelled  them  to  halt  and  seek  shelter  ere  they  could 
recover  breath  to  go  on. 

"  What  a  night,"  muttered  he.  "  I  don't  think  I  was  ever 
out  in  a  worse."  | 

"  Is  n't  it  rare  fun,  George  ?  "  said  she,  laughingly.  "  It 's  j 
as  good  as  swimming  in  a  rough  sea."  i 

"  Which  I  always  hated." 

' '  And  which  I  delighted  in !  Whatever  taxes  one  's 
strength  to  its  limits,  and  exacts  all  one's  courage  besides, 
is  the  most  glorious  of  excitements.  There 's  a  splash ; 
that  was  hail,  George." 

*  He  muttered  something  that  was  lost  in  the  noise'  of  the 
storm  ;  and  though  from  time  to  time  she  tried  to  provoke 
him  to  speak,  now  by  some  lively  taunt,  now  by  some  jesting 
remark  on  his  sullen  humor,  he  maintained  his  silence  till  he 
reached  the  terrace,  when  he  said,  — 

"  Here  we  are,  and  I  declare,  Julia,  I  'd  rather  go  back 
than  go  forward." 

"  You  sha'  n't  have  the  choice,"  said  she,  laughing,  as  she 
rang  the  bell.  "  How  is  your  master,  William?  "  asked  she, 
as  the  servant  admitted  them. 

"No  better,  miss;  the  Dublin  doctor's  upstairs  now  in 
consultation,  and  I  believe  there  's  another  to  be  sent  for." 


206  THE   BRAMLEIGIIS   OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  Mind  that  you  don't  say  I  'm  here.  I  'm  going  to  Mra. 
Eady's  room  to  dry  my  cloak,  and  I  don't  wish  the  young 
ladies  to  be  disturbed,"  said  she,  passing  hastily  on  to  the 
housekeeper's  room,  while  L'Estrange  made  his  way  to  the 
drawing-room.  The  only  person  here,  however,  was  Mr. 
Harding,  who,  with  his  hands  behind  his  back  and  his  head 
bowed  forward,  was  slowly  pacing  the  room  in  melancholy 
fashion. 

"  Brain  fever,  sir,"  muttered  he,  in  reply  to  the  curate's 
Inquiry.  "  Brain  fever,  and  of  "a  severe  kind.  Too  much 
application  to  business  —  did  not  give  up  in  time,  they  say." 

' '  But  he  looked  so  well ;  seenaed  always  so  hearty  and 
so  cheerful." 

"  Very  true,  sir,  very  true  ;  but  as  you  told  us  on  Sunday, 
in  that  impressive  discourse  of  yours,  we  are  only  whited 
sepulchres." 

L'Estrange  blushed.  It  was  so  rare  an  event  for  him  to 
be  complimented  on  his  talents  as  a  preacher  that  he  half 
mistrusted  the  eulogy. 

"  And  what  else,  indeed,  are  we?  "  sighed  the  little  man. 

'^  Here's  our  dear  friend,  with  all  that  the  world  calls 
prosperity;  he  has  fortune,  station,  and  fine  family,  and  —  " 

The  enumeration  of  the  gifts  that  made  up  this  lucky 
man's  measure  of  prosperity  was  here  interrupted  by  the 
entrance  of  Ellen  Bramleigh,  who  came  in  abruptly  and 
eagerly. 

"  Where 's  Julia?  "  cried  she ;  ''  my  maid  told  me  she  was 
here." 

L'Estrange  answered  in  a  low  tone.  Ellen,  in  a  subdued 
voice,  said,  — 

"I'll  take  her  up  to  my  room.  I  have  much  to  say  to 
her.  Will  you  let  her  remain  here  to-night?  —  you  can't  re- 
fuse. It  is  impossible  she  could  go  back  in  such  weather." 
And  without  waiting  for  his  reply,  she  hurried  away. 
'  "I  suppose  they  sent  for  you,  sir?"  resumed  Harding. 
*'They  wished  you  to  see  him?"  and  he  made  a  slight 
gesture,  to  point  out  that  he  meant  the  sick  man. 

"  No;  I  came  up  to  see  if  I  could  say  a  few  words  to 
Augustus  —  on  a  matter  purely  my  own." 

'*  Ha!  indeed!  I'm  afraid  you  are  not  likely  to  have  the 


DOUBTS  AND   FEARS.  207 

opportunit3^  This  is  a  trying  moment,  sir.  Dr.  B.,  though 
only  a  country  practitioner,  is  a  man  of  much  experience, 
and  he  opines  that  the  membranes  are  afifected." 

^'Indeed!" 

"Yes;  he  thinks  it's  the  membranes;  and  he  derives  his 
opinion  from  the  nature  of  the  mental  disturbance,  for  there 
are  distinct  intervals  of  perfect  sanity  —  indeed,  of  great 
mental  power.  The  Colonel  was  a  remarkable  man,  Mr. 
L'Estrange ;  a  very  remarkable  man." 

"  I  've  always  heard  so." 

"  Ah,  sir,  he  had  great  projects  —  I  might  call  them  grand 
projects,  for  Ireland,  had  he  been  spared  to  carry  them 
out." 

"  Let  us  still  hope  that  he  msij." 

"  No,  no,  sir,  that  is  not  to  be ;  and  if  Belton  be  correct, 
it  is  as  well,  perhaps,  it  should  not  be."  Here  he  touched 
his  forehead  with  the  top  of  his  finger,  and  gave  a  glance  of 
most  significant  meaning. 

"  Does  he  apprehend  permanent  injury  to  the  brain?  " 

The  other  pursed  his  mouth,  and  shook  his  head  slowly, 
but  did  not  speak. 

"  That's  very  dreadful,"  said  L'Estrange,  sadly. 

"Indeed  it  is,  sir;  take  this  from  us,"  and  here  he 
touched  his  head,  "  and  what  are  we?  What  are  we  better 
than  the  beasts  of  the  field?  But  why  do  I  say  this  to  you, 
sir?     Who  knows  these  things  better  than  yourself?" 

The  curate  was  half  inclined  to  smile  at  the  ambiguity  of 
the  speech,  but  he  kept  his  gravity,  and  nodded  assent. 

"Nobody  had  the  slightest  conception  of  his  wealth," 
said  Harding,  coming  up,  and  actually  whispering  the  words 
into  the  other's  ear.  "  We  knew  all  about  the  estated  prop- 
erty ;  I  did  at  least,  I  knew  every  acre  of  it,  and  how  it 
was  let ;  but  of  his  money  in  shares,  in  foreign  securities, 
on  mortgages,  and  in  various  investments ;  what  he  had  out 
at  venture  in  Assam  and  Japan,  and  what  he  drew  twenty- 
five  per  cent  from  in  Peru ;  —  of  these,  sir,  none  of  us  had 
any  conception ;  and  would  you  believe  it,  Mr.  L'Estrange, 
that  he  can  talk  of  all  these  things  at  some  moments  as 
collectedly  as  if  he  was  in  perfect  health  ?  He  was  giving 
directions  to  Simcox  about  his  will,  and  he  said,   '  Half  a 


208  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

sheet  of  note-paper  will  do  it,  Simcox.  I  '11  make  my  inten- 
tions very  clear,  and  there  will  be  nobody  to  dispute  them. 
And  as  to  details  of  what  little'  —  he  called  it  little!  —  'I 
possess  in  the  world,  I  want  no  notes  to  aid  my  memory.' 
The  doctor,  however,  positively  prevented  anything  being 
done  to-day,  and  strictly  interdicted  him  from  hearing  any 
matters  of  business  whatsoever.  And  it  is  strange  enough, 
that  if  not  brought  up  before  him,  he  will  not  advert  to  these 
topics  at  all,  but  continue  to  wander  on  about  his  past  life, 
and  whether  he  had  done  wisely  in  this,  or  that,  or  the  other, 
mixing  very  worldly  thoughts  and  motives  very  oddly  at 
times  with  those  that  belong  to  more  serious  considerations. 
Poor  Mr.  Augustus,"  continued  he,  after  a  short  breathing 
moment.  "  He  does  not  know  what  to  do!  He  was  never 
permitted  to  take  any  part  in  business,  and  he  knows  no 
more  of  Bramleigh  and  Underwood  than  you  do.  And  now 
he  is  obliged  to  open  all  letters  marked  immediate  or  urgent, 
and  to  make  the  best  replies  he  can,  to  give  directions,  and 
to  come  to  decisions,  in  fact,  on  things  he  never  so  much  as 
heard  of.  And  all  this  while  he  is  well  aware  that  if  his 
father  should  recover,  he  '11  not  forgive  him  the  liberty  he 
has  taken  to  open  his  correspondence.  Can  you  imagine  a 
more  difficult  or  painful  situation  ?  " 

"  I  think  much  of  the  embarrassment  might  be  diminished, 
Mr.  Harding,  by  his  taking  you  into  his  counsels." 

"  Ah !  and  that 's  the  very  thing  I'll  not  suffer  him  to  do. 
No,  no,  sir ;  I  know  the  Colonel  too  well  for  that.  He  may, 
when  he  is  well  and  about  again,  he  may  forgive  his  son,  his 
son  and  heir,  for  having  possessed  himself  with  a  knowledge 
of  many  important  details  ;  but  he  'd  not  forgive  the  agent, 
Mr.  Harding.  I  think  I  can  hear  the  very  words  he  'd  use. 
He  said  once  on  a  time  to  me,  '  I  want  no  Grand  Vizier, 
Harding;  I'm  Sultan  and  Grand  Vizier  too.*  So  I  said  to 
Mr.  Augustus,  '  I  've  no  head  for  business  after  dinner,  and 
particularly  when  I  have  tasted  your  father's  prime  Madeira.' 
And  it  is  true,  sir ;  true  as  you  stand  there.  The  doctor 
and  I  had  finished  the  second  decanter  before  we  took  our 
coffee." 

L'Estrange  now  looked  the  speaker  fully  in  the  face ;  and 
to  his  astonishment  saw  that  signs  of  his  having  drank  freely 


DOUBTS  AND  FEARS.  209 

—  which,  strangely  enough,  had  hitherto  escaped  his  notice 

—  were  now  plainly  to  be  seen  there. 

*'No,  sir,  not  a  bit  tipsy,"  said  Harding,  interpreting  his 
glance  ;  "  not  even  what  Mr.  Cutbill  calls  '  tight ' !  I  won't 
go  so  far  as  to  say  I  'd  like  to  make  up  a  complicated  ac- 
count; but  for  an  off-hand  question  as  to  the  value  of  a 
standing  crop,  or  an  allowance  for  improvements  in  the  case 
of  a  tenant  at  will,  I  'm  as  good  as  ever  I  felt.  What 's 
more,  sir,  it 's  seventeen  years  since  I  took  so  much  wine 
before.  It  was  the  day  I  got  my  appointment  to  the  agency, 
Mr.  L'Estrange.  I  was  weak  enough  to  indulge  on  that 
occasion,  and  the  Colonel  said  to  me,  'As  much  wine  as 
you  like,  Harding  —  a  pipe  of  it,  if  you  please ;  but  don't 
be  garrulous.'  The  word  sobered  me,  sir  —  sobered  me  at 
once.  I  was  offended,  I'll  not  deny  it;  but  I  couldn't  af- 
ford to  show  that  I  felt  it.  I  shut  up ;  and  from  that  hour 
to  this  I  never  was  'garrulous'  again.  Is  it  boasting  to  say, 
sir,  that  it's  not  every  man  who  could  do  as  much?  " 

The  curate  bowed  politely,  as  if  in  concurrence. 

"  You  never  thought  me  garrulous,  sir?" 

"  Never,  indeed,  Mr.  Harding." 

"  No,  sir,  it  was  not  the  judgment  the  world  passed  on 
me.  Men  have  often  said  Harding  is  cautious,  Harding  is 
reserved,  Harding  is  guarded  in  what  he  says ;  but  none 
have  presumed  to  say  I  was  garrulous." 

"  I  must  say  I  think  you  dwell  too  much  on  a  mere  pass- 
ing expression.  It  was  not  exactly  polite  ;  but  I  am  sure  it 
was  not  intended  to  convey  either  a  grave  censure  or  a  fixed 
opinion." 

"  I  hope  so;  I  hope  so,  with  all  my  heart,  sir,"  said  he, 
pathetically.  But  his  drooping  head  and  depressed  look 
showed  how  little  of  encouragement  the  speech  gave 
him. 

"Mr.  Augustus  begs  you'll  come  to  him  in  the  library, 
sir,"  said  a  footman,  entering,  and  to  L'Estrange's  great 
relief,  coming  to  his  rescue  from  his  tiresome  companion. 

"  I  think  I'd  not  mention  the  matter  noiv^'*  said  Harding, 
with  a  sigh.  "  They  've  trouble  and  sickness  in  the  house, 
and  the  moment  would  be  unfavorable;  but  you'll  not  for- 
get it,  sir,  you  '11  not   forget  that  I  want  that  expression 

14 


210  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

recalled,  or  at  least  the  admission  that   it  was  used  inad- 
vertently." 

L'Estrange  nodded  assent,  and  hurried  away  to  the 
library. 

"  The  man  of  all  others  I  wanted  to  see,"  said  Augustus, 
meeting  him  with  an  outstretched  hand.  ''What  on  earth 
has  kept  you  away  from  us  of  late?  " 

"  I  fancied  you  were  all  a  little  cold  towards  me,"  said 
the  curate,  blushing  deeply  as  he  spoke;  "  but  if  I  thought 
you  wanted  me,  I  'd  not  have  suffered  my  suspicion  to 
interfere.     I'd  have  come  up  at  once." 

"You're  a  good  fellow,  and  I  believe  you  thoroughly. 
There  has  been  no  coldness ;  at  least,  I  can  swear,  none  on 
my  part,  nor  any  that  I   know  of  elsewhere.     We  are  in 
great  trouble.     You've  heard  about  my  poor  father's  seizure 
—  indeed  you  saw  him  when  it  was  impending,  and  now  here 
am  I  in  a  position  of  no  common  difficulty.     The  doctors 
have  declared  that  they  will  not  answer  for  his  life,  or,  if 
he  lives,  for  his  reason,  if  he  be  disturbed  or  agitated  by 
questions  relating  to  business.     They  have,  for  greater  im- 
pressiveness,   given  this  opinion  in  writing,  and  signed  it. 
I  have  telegraphed  the  decision  to  the  firm,  and  have  re- 
ceived this  reply,   '  Open  all  marked  urgent,  and  answer.' 
Now,  you  don't  know  my  father  very  long,  or  very  inti- 
mately, but  I  think  you  know  enough  of  him  to  be  aware 
what  a  dangerous  step  is  this  they  now  press  me  to  take. 
First  of  all,  I  know  no  more  of  his  affairs  than  you  do.     It 
is  not  only  that  he  never  confided  anything  to  me,  but  he 
made  it  a  rule  never  to  advert  to  a  matter  of  business  before 
any  of  us.     And  to  such  an  extent  did  he  carry  his  jealousy 
—  if  it  was  jealousy  —  in  this  respect,  that  he  would  imme- 
diately interpose  if  Underwood  or  the  senior  clerk  said  any- 
thing   about    money   matters,    and  remark,    'These    young 
gentlemen  take  no  interest  in  such  subjects ;  let  us  talk  of 
something   they  can   take   their  share  in.'      Nor  was   this 
abstention  on  his  part  without  a  touch  of  sarcasm,  for  he 
would  occasionally  talk  a  little  to  my  sister  Marion  on  bank 
matters,  and   constantly   said,    'Why  weren't  you   a  boy, 
Marion?     You  could  have  taken  the  helm  when  it  was  my 
watch  below.'     This  showed  what  was  the  estimate  he  had 


DOUBTS   AND   FEARS.  211 

formed  of  myself  and  my  brothers.  I  mention  all  these 
things  to  you  now,  that  you  may  see  the  exact  danger  of 
the  position  I  am  forced  to  occupy.  If  I  refuse  to  act,  if 
I  decline  to  open  the  letters  on  pressing  topics,  and  by  my 
refusal  lead  to  all  sorts  of  complications  and  difficulties,  I 
shall  but  confirm  him,  whenever  he  recovers,  in  his  deprecia- 
tory opinion  of  me ;  and  if,  on  the  other  hand,  I  engage  in 
the  correspondence,  who  is  to  say  that  I  may  not  be  possess- 
ing myself  of  knowledge  that  he  never  intended  I  should 
acquire,  and  which  might  produce  a  fatal  estrangement 
between  us  in  future?  And  this  is  the  doubt  and  difficulty 
in  which  you  now  find  me.  Here  I  stand  surrounded  with 
these  letters  —  look  at  that  pile  yonder  —  and  I  have  not 
courage  to  decide  what  course  to  take." 

"  And  he  is  too  ill  to  consult  with?  " 

''  The  doctors  have  distinctly  forbidden  one  syllable  on  any 
business  matter."         -^''"''''^ 

"It's  strange  enough  that  it  was  a  question  which  bore 
upon  all  this  brought  me  up  here  to-night.  Your  father  had 
promised  me  a  letter  to  Lady  Augusta  at  Rome,  with  refer- 
ence to  a  chaplaincy  I  was  looking  for,  and  he  told  Belton 
to  inform  me  that  he  had  written  the  letter  and  sealed  it,  and 
left  it  on  the  table  in  the  library.  We  found  it  there,  as  he 
said,  only  not  sealed ;  and  though  that  point  was  not  im- 
portant, it  suggested  a  discussion  between  Julia  and  myself 
whether  I  had  or  had  not  the  right  to  read  it,  being  a  letter 
of  presentation,  and  regarding  myself  alone.  We  could  not 
agree  as  to  what  ought  to  be  done,  and  resolved  at  last  to 
take  the  letter  over  to  you,  and  say.  If  you  feel  at  liberty  to 
let  me  hear  what  is  in  this,  read  it  for  me :  if  you  have  any 
scruples  on  the  score  of  reading,  seal  it,  and  the  matter  is 
ended  at  once.     This  is  the  letter." 

Augustus  took  it,  and  regarded  it  leisurely  for  a  moment. 

"I  think  I  need  have  no  hesitation  here,"  said  he.  "I 
break  no  seal,  at  least." 

He  withdrew  the  letter  carefully  from  the  envelope,  and 
opened  it. 

"  '  Dear  Sedley,'  "  read  he,  and  stopped.  "  Why,  this  is 
surely  a  mistake  ;  this  was  not  intended  for  Lady  Augusta  ;  " 
and  he  turned  to  the  address,  which  ran,   "  The  Lady  Au» 


212  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

gusta  Bramleigh,  Villa  Altieri,  Rome."      "  What  can  this 
mean  ?  '"' 

"  He  has  put  it  in  a  wrong  envelope." 

"Exactly  so,  and  probably  sealed  the  other,  which  led  to 
his  remark  to  Belton.  1  suppose  it  may  be  read  now. 
'  Dear  Sedley  — Have  no  fears  about  the  registry.  First  of 
all,  I  do  not  believe  any  exists  of  the  date  required ;  and 
secondly,  there  will  be  neither  church,  nor  parson,  nor 
register  here  in  three  months  hence.'  "  Augustus  stopped 
and  looked  at  L'Estrange.  Each  face  seemed  the  reflex  of 
the  other,  and  the  look  of  puzzled  horror  was  the  same  on 
both.  "  I  must  go  on,  I  can't  help  it,"  muttered  Augustus, 
and  continued:  "  '  I  have  spoken  to  the  dean,  who  agrees 
with  me  that  Portshandon  need  not  be  retained  as  a  parish. 
Something,  of  course,  must  be  done  for  the  curate  here. 
You  will  probably  be  able  to  obtain  one  of  the  smaller  livings 
for  him  in  the  Chancellor's  patronage.  So  much  for  the 
registry  difficulty,  which  indeed  was  never  a  difficulty  at  all 
till  it  occurred  to  your  legal  acuteness  to  make  it  such.' 

"  There  is  more  here,  but  I  am  unwilling  to  read  on,"  said 
Augustus,  whose  face  was  now  crimson,  "and  yet,  L'Es- 
trange," added  he,  "  it  may  be  that  I  shall  want  your  coun- 
sel in  this  very  matter.  I'll  finish  it."  And  he  read, 
"  '  The  more  I  reflect  on  the  plan  of  a  compromise  the  less  I 
like  it,  and  I  cannot  for  the  life  of  me  see  how  it  secures  final- 
ity. If  this  charge  is  to  be  revived  in  my  son's  time,  it  will 
certainly  not  be  met  with  more  vigor  or  more  knowledge  than 
I  can  myself  contribute  to  it.  Every  impostor  gains  by  the 
lapse  of  years  —  bear  that  in  mind.  The  difficulties  which 
environ  explanations  are  invaribly  in  favor  of  the  rogue, 
just  because  fiction  is  more  plausible  often  than  truth.  It  is 
not  pleasant  to  admit,  but  I  am  forced  to  own  that  there  is 
not  one  amongst  my  sons  who  has  either  the  stamina  or  the 
energy  to  confront  such  a  peril ;  so  that,  if  the  battle  be 
really 4o  be  fought,  let  it  come  on  while  I  am  yet  here,  and 
in  health  and  vigor  to  engage  in  it. 

"  'There  are  abundant  reasons  why  I  cannot  confide  the 
matter  to  any  of  my  family  —  one  will  suffice :  there  is  not 
one  of  them  except  my  eldest  daughter  who  would  not  be 
crushed  by  the  tidings,  and  though  she  has  head  enough, 


DOUBTS  AND  FEARS.  213 

she  has  not  the  temper  for  a  very  exciting  and  critical 
struggle. 

"'What  you  tell  me  of  Jack  and  his  indiscretion  will 
serve  to  show  you  how  safe  I  should  be  in  the  hands  of  my 
sons,  and  he  is  possibly  about  as  wise  as  his  brothers,  though 
less  pretentious  than  the  diplomatist ;  and  as  for  Augustus, 
I  have  great  misgivings.  If  the  time  should  ever  come  when 
he  should  have  convinced  himself  that  this  claim  was  good 
—  and  sentimental  reasons  would  always  have  more  weight 
with  him  than  either  law  or  logic  —  I  say,  if  such  a  time 
should  arrive,  he  's  just  the  sort  of  nature  that  would  prefer 
the  martyrdom  of  utter  beggary  to  the  assertion  of  his  right, 
and  the  vanity  of  being  equal  to  the  sacrifice  would  repay 
him  for  the  ruin.  There  are  fellows  of  this  stamp,  and  I 
have  terrible  fears  that  I  have  one  of  them  for  a  son.' " 

Augustus  laid  down  the  letter  and  tried  to  smile,  but  his 
lip  trembled  hysterically,  and  his  voice  was  broken  and 
uncertain  as  he  said  :  "  This  is  a  hard  sentence,  George  —  I 
wish  I  had  never  read  it.  What  can  it  all  mean?"  cried 
he,  after  a  minute  or  more  of  what  seemed  cruel  suffering. 
"What  is  this  claim?  Who  is  this  rogue?  and  what  is  this 
charge  that  can  be  revived  and  pressed  in  another  genera- 
tion? Have  you  ever  heard  of  this  before?  or  can  you 
make  anything  out  of  it  now?  Tell  me,  for  mercy's  sake, 
and  do  not  keep  me  longer  in  this  agony  of  doubt  and 
uncertainty." 

"I  have  not  the  faintest  clew  to  the  meaning  of  all  this. 
It  reads  as  if  some  one  was  about  to  prefer  a  claim  to  your 
father's  estate,  and  that  your  lawyer  had  been  advising  a 
compromise  with  him." 

"  But  a  compromise  is  a  sort  of  admission  that  the  claim- 
ant was  not  an  impostor  —  that  he  had  his  rights !  " 

"  There  are  rights,  and  rights!  There  are  demands,  too, 
that  it  is  often  better  to  conciliate  than  to  defy  —  even 
though  defiance  would  be  successful." 

"And  how  is  it  that  I  never  heard  of  this  before?" 
burst  he  out,  indignantly.  "Has  a  man  the  right  to  treat 
his  son  in  this  fashion?  to  bring  him  up  in  the  unbroken 
security  of  succeeding  to  an  inheritance  that  the  law  may 
decide  he  has  no  title  to  ? " 


214  THE   BRAMLEIGIIS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"I  think  that  is  natural  enough.  Your  father  evidently 
did  not  recognize  this  man's  right,  and  felt  there  was  no 
need  to  impart  the  matter  to  his  family." 

"  But  why  should  my  father  be  the  judge  in  his  own 
cause?  " 

L'Estrange  smiled  faintly :  the  line  in  the  Colonel's  letter, 
in  which  he  spoke  of  his  son's  sensitiveness,  occurred  to  him 
at  once. 

"  I  see  how  you  treat  my  question,"  said  Augustus.  "  It 
reminds  you  of  the  character  my  father  gave  me.  What  do 
you  say  then  to  that  passage  about  the  registry?  Why,  if 
we  be  clean-handed  in  this  business,  do  we  want  to  make 
short  work  of  all  records  ?  " 

"  I  simply  say  I  can  make  nothing  of  it." 

"Is  it  possible,  think  you,  that  Marion  knows  this 
story?" 

"  I  think  it  by  no  means  unlikely." 

"  It  would  account  for  ^nuch  that  has  often  puzzled  me," 
said  Augustus,  musing  as  he  spoke.  "  A  certain  self-asser- 
tion that  she  has,  and  a  habit,  too,  of  separating  her  own 
interests  from  those  of  the  rest  of  us,  as  though  speculating 
on  a  time  when  she  should  walk  alone.  Have  you  remarked 
that?" 

" /.^  I,"  said  L'Estrange,  smiling,  "remarked  nothing! 
there  is  not  a  less  observant  fellow  breathing." 

"If  it  were  not  for  those  words  about  the  parish  registry, 
George,"  said  the  other,  in  a  grave  tone,  "I'd  carr}^  a  light 
heart  about  all  this ;  I  'd  take  my  father's  version  of  this 
fellow,  whoever  he  is,  and  believe  him  to  be  an  impostor; 
but  I  don't  like  the  notion  of  foul  play,  and  it  does  mean 
foul  play." 

L'Estrange  was  silent,  and  for  some  minutes  neither 
spoke. 

"When  my  father,"  said  Augustus  —  and  there  was  a 
tone  of  bitterness  now  in  his  voice — "when  my  father 
drew  that  comparison  between  himself  and  his  sons,  he 
may  have  been  flattering  his  superior  intellect  at  the  ex- 
pense of  some  other  quality." 

Another  and  a  longer  pause  succeeded. 

At  last  L'Estrange  spoke  :  — 


DOUBTS   AND   FEARS.  215 

*'  I  have  been  running  over  in  my  head  all  that  could  bear 
upon  this  matter,  and  now  I  remember  a  couple  of  weeks 
ago  that  Longworth,  who  came  with  a  French  friend  of  his 
to  pass  an  evening  at  the  cottage,  led  me  to  talk  of  the 
parish  church  and  its  history  ;  he  asked  me  if  it  had  not  been 
burnt  by  the  rebels  in  '98,  and  seemed  surprised  when  I 
said  it  was  only  the  vestry-room  and  the  books  that  had 
been  destroyed.  'Was  not  that  strange? '  asked  he;  'did 
the  insurgents  usually  interest  themselves  about  parochial 
records  ? '  I  felt  a  something  like  a  sneer  in  the  question, 
and  made  him  no  reply." 

"  And  who  was  the  Frenchman?  " 

"  A  certain  Count  Pracontal,  whom  Longworth  met  in 
Upper  Egypt.  By  the  way,  he  was  the  man  Jack  led  over 
the  high  bank,  where  the  poor  fellow's  leg  was  broken." 

"  I  remember;  he,  of  course,  has  no  part  in  the  story  we 
are  now  discussing.  Longworth  may  possibly  know  some- 
thing.    Are  you  intimate  with  him?" 

"  No,  we  are  barely  acquainted.  I  believe  he  was  rather 
flattered  by  the  very  slight  attention  we  showed  himself  and 
his  friend ;  but  his  manner  was  shy,  and  he  is  a  diffident, 
bashful  sort  of  man,   not  easy  to  understand." 

"Look  here,  L'Estrange,"  said  Augustus,  lajnng  his 
hand  on  the  other's  shoulder;  "all  that  has  passed  between 
us  here  to-night  is  strictly  confidential,  to  be  divulged  to  no 
one,  not  even  your  sister.  As  for  this  letter,  I  '11  forward 
it  to  Sedley,  for  whom  it  was  intended.  I  '11  tell  him  how 
it  chanced  that  I  read  it ;  and  then  —  and  then  —  the  rest 
will  take  its  own  course." 

"  I  wonder  if  Julia  intends  to  come  back  with  me  ?  "  said 
L'Estrange,   after  a  pause. 

"  No.  Nelly  has  persuaded  her  to  stay  here,  and  I  think 
there  is  no  reason  why  you  should  not  also." 

"No,  I  'm  always  uncomfortable  away  from  my  own  den; 
but  I  '11  be  with  you  early  to-morrow.     Good-night." 

Nelly  and  Julia  did  not  go  to  bed  till  daybreak.  They 
passed  the  night  writing  a  long  letter  to  Jack,  —  the  greater 
part  being  dictated  by  Julia  while  Nelly  wrote.  It  was  an 
urgent  entreaty  to  him  to  yield  to  the  advice  of  his  brother 
officers,  and  withdraw  the  offensive  words  he  had  used  to 


216  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

the  AdmiraL  It  was  not  alone  his  station,  his  character.; 
and  his  future  in  life  were  pressed  into  the  service,  but  the 
happiness  of  all  who  loved  him  and  wished  him  well,  with 
a  touching  allusion  to  his  poor  father's  condition,  and  the 
impossibility  of  asking  any  aid  or  counsel  from  him.  Nelly 
went  on:  "Remember,  dear  Jack,  how  friendless  and 
deserted  I  shall  be  if  I  lose  you;  and  it  would  be  next  to 
losing  you  to  know  you  had  quitted  the  service,  and  gone 
Heaven  knows  where,  to  do  Heaven  knows  what."  She 
then  adverted  to  home,  and  said,  "You  know  how  happy 
and  united  we  were  all  here,  once  on  a  time.  This  is  all 
gone;  Marion  and  Temple  hold  themselves  quite  apart,  and 
Augustus,  evidently  endeavoring  to  be  neutral,  is  isolated. 
I  only  say  this  to  show  you  how,  more  than  ever,  I  need 
your  friendship  and  affection;  nor  is  it  the  least  sad  of 
all  my  tidings,  the  L' Estranges  are  going  to  leave  this. 
There  is  to  be  some  new  arrangement  by  which  Portshandon 
is  to  be  united  to  Killmulluck,  and  one  church  to  serve  for 
the  two  parishes.  George  and  Julia  think  of  going  to 
Italy.  I  can  scarcely  tell  you  how  I  feel  this  desertion  of 
me  now,  dearest  Jack.  I  'd  bear  up  against  all  these  and 
worse  —  if  worse  there  be  —  were  I  only  to  feel  that  you 
were  following  out  your  road  to  station  and  success,  and 
that  the  day  was  coming  when  I  should  be  as  proud  as  I  am 
fond  of  you.  You  hate  writing,  I  know;  but  you  will,  I  'm 
sure,  not  fail  to  send  me  half  a  dozen  lines  to  say  that  I 
have  not  pleaded  in  vain.  I  fear  I  shall  not  soon  be  able 
to  send  you  pleasant  news  from  this,  the  gloom  thickens 
every  day  around  us;  but  you  shall  hear  constantly."  The 
letter  ended  with  a  renewed  entreaty  to  him  to  place  him- 
self in  the  hands  and  under  the  guidance  of  such  of  his 
brother  officers  as  he  could  rely  on  for  sound  judgment  and 
moderation.  "Remember,  Jack,  I  ask  you  to  do  nothing 
that  shall  peril  honor;  but  also  nothing  in  anger,  nothing 
out  of  wounded  self-love." 

"Add  one  line,  — only  one,  Julia,"  said  she,  handing  the 
pen  to  her,  and  pushing  the  letter  before  her;  and  without 
a  word  Julia  wrote:  "A  certain  coquette  of  your  acquaint- 
ance —  heartless,  of  course,  as  all  her  tribe  —  is  very  sorry 
for  your  trouble,  and  would  do  all  in  her  power  to  lessen  it. 


DOUBTS   AND  FEARS.  217 

To  this  end  she  begs  you  to  listen  patiently  to  the  counsels 
of  the  present  letter,  every  line  of  which  she  has  read,  and 
to  believe  that  in  yielding  something  —  if  it  should  be  so  — 
to  the  opinion  of  those  who  care  for  you,  you  acquire  a  new 
right  to  their  affection,  and  a  stronger  title  to  their  love." 

Nelly  threw  her  arm  around  Julia's  neck,  and  kissed  her 
again  and  again. 

"Yes,  darling,  these  dear  words  will  sink  into  his  heart, 
and  he  will  not  refuse  our  prayer." 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

Marion's  ambitions. 

Colonel  Bramleigh's  malady  took  a  strange  form,  and 
one  which  much  puzzled  his  physicians.  His  feverish 
symptoms  gradually  disappeared,  and  to  his  paroxysms  of 
passion  and  excitement  there  now  succeeded  a  sort  of 
dreary  apathy,  in  which  he  scarcely  uttered  a  word,  nor  was 
it  easy  to  say  whether  he  heard  or  heeded  the  remarks  around 
him.  This  state  was  accompanied  by  a  daily  increasing 
debility,  as  though  the  powers  of  life  were  being  gradually 
exhausted,  and  that,  having  no  more  to  strive  for  or  desire, 
he  cared  no  more  to  live. 

The  whole  interest  of  his  existence  now  seemed  to  centre 
around  the  hour  when  the  post  arrived.  He  had  ordered 
that  the  letter-bag  should  be  opened  in  his  presence,  and  as 
the  letters  were  shown  him  one  by  one,  he  locked  them, 
unopened  and  unread,  in  a  despatch-box,  so  far  strictly 
obedient  to  the  dictates  of  the  doctor,  who  had  forbidden 
him  all  species  of  excitement.  His  family  had  been  too 
long  accustomed  to  the  reserve  and  distance  he  observed 
towards  them  to  feel  surprised  that  none  were  in  this  criti- 
cal hour  admitted  to  his  confidence,  and  that  it  was  in  pres- 
ence of  his  valet,  Dorose,  the  letters  were  sorted  and 
separated,  and  such  as  had  no  bearing  on  matters  of  busi- 
ness sent  down  to  be  read  by  the  family. 

It  was  while  he  continued  in  this  extraordinary  state, 
intermediate,  as  it  seemed,  between  sleeping  and  waking, 
a  telegram  came  from  Sedley  to  Augustus,  saying,  "Highly 
important  to  see  your  father.  Could  he  confer  with  me  if 
I  go  over?  Reply  at  once."  The  answer  was,  "Unlikely 
that  you  can  see  him;  but  come  on  the  chance." 


MARION'S  AMBITIONS.  219 

Before  sending  off  this  reply,  Augustus  had  taken  the 
telegram  up  to  Marion's  room,  to  ask  her  advice  in  the 
matter.  "You  are  quite  right,  Gusty,"  said  she;  "for  if 
Sedley  cannot  see  papa,  he  can  certainly  see  Lord  Culduff." 

"Lord  Culduff,"  cried  he,  in  amazement.  "Why,  what 
could  Lord  Culduff  possibly  know  about  my  father's  affairs? 
How  could  he  be  qualified  to  give  an  opinion  upon  them  ?  " 

"Simply  on  the  grounds  of  his  great  discrimination,  his 
great  acuteness,  joined  to  a  general  knowledge  of  life,  in 
which  he  has  admittedly  few  rivals." 

"Grant  all  that;  but  here  are  special  questions,  here  are 
matters  essentially  personal;  and  with  all  his  Lordship's 
tact  and  readiness,  yet  he  is  not  one  of  us.'* 

"He  may  be,  though,  and  very  soon,  too,"  replied  she, 
promptly. 

"What  do  you  mean?"  asked  he,  in  a  voice  of  almost 
dismay. 

"Just  what  I  say,  Augustus;  and  I  am  not  aware  it  is  a 
speech  that  need  excite  either  the  amazement  or  the  terror 
I  see  in  your  face  at  this  mom^ent." 

"I  am  amazed;  and  if  I  understand  you  aright,  I  have 
grounds  to  be  shocked  besides." 

"Upon  my  word,"  said  she,  in  a  voice  that  trembled  with 
passion,  "I  ha\7e  reason  to  congratulate  myself  on  the  score 
of  brotherly  affection.  Almost  the  last  words  Jack  spoke 
to  me  at  parting  were,  'For  God' s  sake,  shake  off  that  old 
scamp;  '  and  now  you  —  that  hold  a  very  different  position 
amongst  us  —  you,  who  will  one  day  be  the  head  of  the 
family,  deliberately  tell  me  you  are  shocked  at  the  pros- 
pect of  my  being  allied  to  one  of  the  first  names  in  the 
peerage." 

"My  dear  Marion,"  said  he,  tenderly,  "it  is  not  the 
name,  it  is  not  the  rank  I  object  to." 

"It  is  his  fortune,  then?  I'm  sure  it  can't  be  his 
abilities." 

"It  is  neither.  It  is  simply  that  the  man  might  be  your 
grandfather." 

"Well,  sir,"  said  she,  drawing  herself  up,  and  assuming 
a  manner  of  intense  hauteur,  "and  if  /,  —  I  conclude  I  am 
the  person  most  to  be  consulted,  —  if  I  do  not  regard  this 


220  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

disparity  of  years  as  an  insurmountable  obstacle,  by  what 
right  can  one  of  my  family  presume  to  call  it  such? " 

"My  dear  sister,"  said  he,  "can  you  not  imagine  the 
right  of  a  brother  to  consult  for  your  happiness  ? " 

"Happiness  is  a  very  large  word.  If  it  were  for  Nelly 
that  you  were  interesting  yourself,  I  've  no  doubt  your 
advice  and  counsel  ought  to  have  great  weight ;  but  I  am 
not  one  of  your  love-in-a-cottage  young  ladies.  Gusty.  I 
am,  I  must  own  it,  excessively  worldly.  Whatever  happi- 
ness I  could  propose  to  myself  in  life  is  essentially  united 
to  a  certain  ambition.  We  have  as  many  of  the  advan- 
tages of  mere  wealth  as  most  people :  as  fine  equipage,  as 
many  footmen,  as  good  a  cook,  and  as  costly  silver;  and 
what  do  they  do  for  us?  They  permit  us  simply  to  enter 
the  lists  with  a  set  of  people  who  have  high-stepping  horses 
and  powdered  lackeys  like  ourselves,  but  who  are  no  more 
the  world,  no  more  society,  than  one  of  papa's  Indiamen 
is  a  ship  of  the  Royal  Navy.  Why  do  I  say  this  to  you, 
who  were  at  Oxford,  who  saw  it  all  —  ay,  and  felt  it  all  — 
in  those  fresh  years  of  youth  when  these  are  sharp  suffer- 
ings ?  You  know  well  —  you  told  me  your  griefs  at  the 
time  —  that  you  were  in  a  set  without  being  'of  it;'  that 
the  stamp  of  inequality  was  as  indelibly  fixed  upon  you  as 
though  you  were  a  corporal  and  wore  coarse  cloth.  Now, 
these  things  are  hard  to  bear  for  a  man ;  for  a  woman  they 
are  intolerable.  She  has  not  the  hundred  and  one  careers 
in  life  in  which  individual  distinction  can  obliterate  the 
claims  of  station.  She  has  but  one  stage,  —  the  salon  ;  but, 
to  her,  this  narrow  world,  soft-carpeted  and  damask-cur- 
tained, is  a  very  universe,  and  without  the  recognized  stamp 
of  a  certain  rank  in  it,  she  is  absolutely  nothing." 

"And  may  not  all  these  things  be  bought  too  dearly, 
Marion?" 

"I  don't  know  the  price  I  'd  call  too  high  for  them." 

"What!  Not  your  daily  happiness?  not  your  self- 
esteem!  not  the  want  of  the  love  of  one  who  would  have 
your  whole  heart  in  his  keeping?" 

"So  he  may,  if  he  can  give  me  the  rank  I  care  for." 

"Oh,  Marion!  I  cannot  think  this  of  you,"  cried  he, 
bitterly. 


MARION'S   AMBITIONS.  221 

*'That  is  to  say,  that  you  want  me  to  deceive  you  with 
false  assurances  of  uubought  affection  and  the  like;  and 
you  are  angry  becase  I  will  not  play  the  hypocrite.  Lord 
Culduff  has  made  me  an  offer  of  his  hand,  and  I  have  ac- 
cepted it.  You  are  aware  that  I  am  my  own  mistress. 
Whatever  I  possess,  it  is  absolutely  my  own ;  and  though  I 
intend  to  speak  with  my  father,  and,  if  it  may  be,  obtain 
his  sanction,  I  will  not  say  that  his  refusal  would  induce 
me  to  break  off  my  engagement." 

"At  all  events,  you  are  not  yet  this  man's  wife,  Marion," 
said  he,  with  more  determination  than  he  had  yet  shown ; 
"and  I  forbid  you  positively  to  impart  to  Lord  Culduff 
anything  regarding  this  telegram." 

"I  make  no  promises." 

"You  may  have  no  regard  for  the  interests  of  your  family, 
but  possibly  you  will  care  for  some  of  your  own,"  said  he, 
fiercely.  "Now,  I  tell  you  distinctly,  there  are  very  grave 
perils  hanging  over  us  at  this  moment,  —  perils  of  which  I 
cannot  measure  the  amount  nor  the  consequences.  I  can 
only  dimly  perceive  the  direction  from  which  they  come; 
and  I  warn  you,  for  your  own  sake,  make  no  confidences 
beyond  the  bounds  of  your  own  family." 

•'You  are  superbly  mysterious,  Gusty;  and  if  I  were 
impressionable  on  this  kind  of  matter,  I  half  suspect  you 
might  terrify  me.  Papa  ought  to  have  committed  a  forger}^, 
at  least,  to  justify  your  dark  insinuations." 

"There  is  no  question  of  a  forgery;  but  there  may  be 
that  which,  in  the  end,  will  lead  to  a  ruin  as  complete  as 
any  forgery." 

>  "I  know  what  you  mean,"  said  she,  in  a  careless,  easy 
tone.  "The  bank  has  made  use  of  private  securities  and 
title-deeds,  just  as  those  other  people  did  —  I  forget  their 
names  —  a  couple  of  years  ago." 

"It  is  not  even  that;  but  I  repeat,  the  consequences  may 
be  to  the  full  as  disastrous." 

"You  allude  to  this  unhappy  scrape  of  Jack's." 

"I  do  not.     I  was  not  then  thinking  of  it." 

"Because,  as  to  that.  Lord  Culduff  said  there  never  yet 
grew  a  tree  where  there  was  n't  a  branch  or  two  might  be 
lopped  off  with  advantage.     If  Jack  does  n't  think  his  sta- 


222  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

tion  in  life  worth  preserving,  all  the  teaching  in  the  world 
won't  persuade  him  to  maintain  it." 

"  Poor  Jack !  "  said  he,  bitterly. 

"Yes,  I  say,  poor  Jack!  too.  I  think  it's  exactly  the 
epithet  to  apply  to  one  whose  spirit  is  so  much  beneath  his 
condition." 

"You  are  terribly  changed,  Marion.  I  do  not  know  if 
you  are  aware  of  it  ?  " 

"I  hope  I  am.  I  trust  that  I  look  at  the  events  around 
me  from  a  higher  level  than  I  have  been  accustomed  to 
hitherto." 

"And  is  my  father  in  a  state  to  be  consulted  on  a  matter 
of  this  importance?"  asked  he,  half  indiguantlyo 

"Papa  has  already  been  spoken  to  about  it;  and  it  is  by 
his  own  desire  we  are  both  to  see  him  this  evening." 

"Am  I  the  only  one  here  who  knew  nothing  of  all  this?" 

"You  should  have  been  told  formally  this  morning, 
Augustus.  Lord  Culduff  only  waited  for  a  telegram  from 
Mr.  Cutbill,  to  announce  to  you  his  intentions  and  his  — 
hopes."     A  slight  hesitation  delayed  the  word. 

"These  things  I  can't  help,"  said  he,  bitterl}^,  and  as  if 
speaking  to  himself.  "They  have  been  done  without  my 
knowledge,  and  regardless  of  me  in  every  way;  but  I  do 
protest  —  strongly  protest  —  against  Lord  Culduff  being 
introduced  into  matters  which  are  purely  our  own." 

"I  never  knew  till  now  that  we  had  family  secrets,"  said 
she,  with  an  insolent  air. 

"  You  may  learn  it  later  on,  perhaps,  and  without 
pleasure." 

"  So,  then,  these  arcthe  grave  perils  you  tried  to  terrify 
me  with  a  while  ago.  You  forget,  Augustus,  that  I  have 
secured  my  passage  in  another  ship.  Personally,  at  least, 
I  am  in  no  danger." 

"I  did  forget  that.  I  did  indeed  forget  how  completely 
you  could  disassociate  yourself  from  the  troubles  of  your 
family." 

"But  what  is  going  to  happen  to  us?  They  can't  shoot 
Jack  because  he  called  his  commanding  officer  an  ugly 
name.  They  can't  indite  papa  because  he  refused  to  be 
high-'Sheriff.     And  if  the  world  is  angry  with  you.  Gusty, 


MARION'S  AMBITIONS.  223 

it  is  not  certainly  because  you  like  the  company  of  men  of 
higher  station  than  your  own." 

He  flushed  at  the  sarcasm  that  her  speech  half  revealed, 
and  turned  away  to  hide  his  irritation. 

"Shall  I  tell  you  frankly,  Gusty,"  continued  she,  "that 
I  believe  nothing  —  absolutely  nothing  —  of  these  impend- 
ing calamities  ?  There  is  no  sword  suspended  over  us ;  or 
if  there  be,  it  is  by  a  good  strong  cord,  which  will  last  our 
time.  There  are  always  plenty  of  dark  stories  in  the  City. 
Shares  fall,  and  great  houses  tumble;  but  papa  told  me 
scores  of  times  that  he  never  put  all  his  eggs  into  one 
basket;  and  Bramleigh  and  Underwood  will  be  good  names 
for  many  a  day  to  come.  Shall  I  tell  you,  my  dear 
Augustus,  what  I  suspect  to  be  the  greatest  danger  that 
now  hangs  over  us  ?  And  I  am  quite  ready  to  admit  it  is  a 
heavy  one." 

"What  is  it?" 

"  The  peril  /  mean  is  that  your  sister  Nelly  will  marry  the 
curate.  Oh,  you  may  look  shocked  and  incredulous,  and 
cry  impossible,  if  you  like;  but  we  girls  are  very  shrewd 
detectives  over  each  other,  and  what  I  tell  you  is  only  short 
of  certainty." 

"He  has  not  a  shilling  in  the  world;  nor  has  she,  inde- 
pendently of  my  father." 

"That 's  the  reason.^  That 's  the  reason.  These  are  the 
troths  that  are  never  broken.  There  is  nothing  aids  fidelity 
like   beggary." 

"He  has  neither  friends  nor  patrons;  he  told  me  himself 
he  has  not  the  vaguest  hope  of  advancement." 

"Exactly  so  ;  and  just  for  that  they  will  be  married. 
Now  it  reminds  me,"  said  she,  aloud,  "of  what  papa  once 
said  to  me.  The  man  who  wants  to  build  up  a  name  and 
a  family  ought  to  have  few  children.  With  a  large  house- 
hold, some  one  or  other  will  make  an  unhappy  alliance,  and 
one  deserter  disgraces  the  army." 

"A  grave  consideration  for  Lord  Culduff  at  this  moment," 
said  he,  with  a  humorous  twinkle  of  the  eye. 

"We  have  talked  it  over  already,"  said  she. 

"Once  for  all,  Marion,  no  confidences  about  what  I  have 
been  talking  of."     And  so  saying,  he  went  his  way. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

MR.    CUTBILL    ARRIVES    AT    CASTELLO. 

On  the  eve  of  that  day  on  which  the  conversation  in  the 
last  chapter  occurred,  Mr  Cutbill  arrived  at  Castello.  He 
came  full  of  town  news.  He  brought  with  him  the  latest 
scandals  of  society,  and  the  last  events  in  politics ;  he  could 
tell  of  what  was  doing  in  Downing  Street,  and  what  was 
about  to  be  done  in  the  City.  In  fact,  he  had  the  sort  of 
budget  that  was  sure  to  amuse  a  country  audience;  and 
yet,  to  his  astonishment,  he  found  none  to  question,  none 
even  to  listen  to  him.  Colonel  Bramleigh's  illness  had 
thrown  a  gloom  over  all.  The  girls  relieved  each  other  in 
watches  beside  their  father,  and  Augustus  and  Temple 
dined  together  alone,  as  Lord  Culduff's  gout  still  detained 
him  in  his  room.  It  was  as  the  dinner  drew  to  its  close 
that  Mr.  Cutbill  was  announced. 

''It  ain't  serious,  I  hope?  I  mean,  they  don't  think  the 
case  dangerous?"  said  he,  as  he  arranged  his  napkin  on 
his   knee. 

Augustus  only  shook  his  head  in  silence. 

"Why,  what  age  is  he?  not  sixty?  " 

''Fifty-one  —  fift3^-two  in  .June." 

"That 's  not  old;  that 's  the  prime  of  life,  especially  when 
a  man  has  taken  nothing  out  of  himself." 

"He  was  always  temperate,  — most  temperate." 

"Just  so;  even  his  own  choice  Mouton  did  n't  tempt  him 
into  the  second  bottle.  I  remember  that  well.  I  said  to 
myself,  'Tom  Cutbill,  that  green  seal  would  n't  fare  so  well 
in  your  keeping.'  I  had  such  a  bag  of  news  for  him.  All 
the  rogueries  on  'Change,  fresh  and  fresh.  I  suppose  it  is 
quite  hopeless  to  think  of  telling  him  now?" 

"Not  to  be  thought  of." 


MR.   CUTBILL   ARRIVES   AT   CASTELLO.  225 

"How  he  'd  have  liked  to  have  heard  about  Hewlett  and 
Bell!  They  're  gone  for  close  on  two  millions;  they  '11  not 
pay  over  sixpence  in  the  pound,  and  Rinker,  the  Bombay 
fellow  that  went  in  for  cotton,  has  caught  it  too!  Cotton 
and  indigo  have  ruined  more  men  than  famine  and  pesti- 
lence. I  'd  be  shot,  if  I  was  a  Lord  of  the  Council,  if  I 
would  n't  have  a  special  prayer  for  them  in  the  Litany. 
Well,  Temple,  and  how  are  you,  all  this  while?"  said  he, 
turning  abruptly  to  the  diplomatist,  who  sat  evidently  in- 
attentive to  the  dialogue. 

"What,  sir,  did  you  address  me?  "  cried  he,  with  a  look 
of  astonishment  and  indignation. 

"I  should  think  I  did;  and  I  never  heard  you  were 
Premier  Earl,  or  that  other  thing  of  England,  that  you  need 
look  so  shocked  at  the  liberty!  You  Foreign  Office  swells 
are  very  grand  folk  to  each  other;  but  take  my  word  for  it, 
the  world,  the  real  world,  thinks  very  little  of  you." 

Temple  arose  slowly  from  his  place,  threw  his  napkin  on 
the  table,  and  turning  to  Augustus,  said,  "You'll  find  me 
in  the  library,"  and  withdrew. 

"That's  dignified,  I  take  it,"  said  Cutbill;  "but  to  my 
poor  appreciation,  it 's  not  the  way  to  treat  a  guest  under 
his  father's  roof." 

"  A  guest  has  duties,  Mr.  Cutbill,  as  well  as  rights.  My 
brother  is  not  accustomed  to  the  sort  of  language  you 
address  to  him,  nor  is  he  at  all  to  blame  if  he  decline  to 
hear  more  of  it." 

"So  that  I  am  to  gather  you  think  he  was  right." 

Augustus  bowed  coldly. 

"It  just  comes  to  what  T  said  one  day  to  Harding;  the 
sailor  is  the  only  fellow  in  the  house  a  man  can  get  on  with. 
I  'm  sorry,   heartily  sorry  for  him." 

The  last  words  were  in  a  tone  of  sincere  feeling;  and 
Augustus  asked,  "What  do  you  mean  by  sorry?  what  has 
happened  to  him?" 

"  Have  n't  you  seen  it  in  the  'Times  '  —  no,  you  could  n't, 
though  —  it  was  only  in  this  morning's  edition,  and  I  have 
it  somewhere.  There 's  to  be  a  court-martial  on  him. 
He's  to  be  tried  on  board  the  'Ramsay,'  at  Portsmouth, 
for  disobedience  and  indiscipline,  and  using  to  his  superior 

15 


226  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

officer  —  old  Colthurst  —  words  unbecoming  the  dignity 
of  the  service  and  the  character  of  an  officer,  or  the 
dignity  of  an  officer  and  the  character  of  the  service  — 
it 's  all  the  one  gauge;  but  he  '11  be  broke  and  cashiered  all 
the  same." 

"I  thought  that  if  he  were  to  recall  something,  if  he 
would  make  some  explanation,  which  he  might  without  any 
peril  to  honor  —  " 

"That's  exactly  how  it  was;  and  when  I  heard  he  was  in 
a  scrape  I  started  off  to  Portsmouth  to  see  him." 

"You  did?"  exclaimed  Augustus,  looking  now  with  a 
very  different  expression  at  the  other. 

''To  be  sure  I  did;  I  went  down  by  the  mail  train,  and 
stayed  with  him  till  the  one-forty  express  started  next  day, 
and  I  might  have  saved  myself  the  trouble." 

"You  could  make  no  impression  upon  him?  " 

"Not  a  bit, — as  well  talk  to  that  oak  sideboard  there; 
he  'd  sit  and  smoke,  and  chat  very  pleasantly,  too,  about 
anything,  I  believe.  He  'd  tell  about  his  life  up  in  town, 
and  what  he  lost  at  the  races,  and  how  near  he  was  to 
a  good  thing  on  the  Riddlesworth;  but  not  a  word,  not 
so  much  as  a  syllable  would  he  say  about  his  own  hobble. 
It  was  growing  late.  We  had  had  a  regular  bang-up 
breakfast  —  turtle  steaks  and  a  devilled  lobster,  and  plenty 
of  good  champagne  —  not  the  sweet  stuff  your  father  gives 
us  down  here,  but  dry  'mum,'  that  had  a  flavor  of  Marco- 
brunner  about  it.  He  's  a  rare  fellow  to  treat  a  man,  is 
Jack ;  and  so  I  said,  —  not  going  about  the  bush,  but  bang 
into  the  thicket  at  once,  —  'What 's  this  stupid  row  you  've 
got  into  with  your  Admiral?  what 's  it  all  about?  ' 

"'It's  about  a  service  regulation.  Master  Cutbill,'  said 
he,  with  a  stiff  look  on  him.  'A  service  regulation  that 
you  wouldn't  understand  if  you  heard  it.' 

"  'You  think,'  said  I,  'that  out  of  culverts  and  cuttings, 
Tom  Cutbill's  opnion  is  not  worth  much?' 

"  'No,  no,  not  that,  Cutbill.  I  never  said  that,'  said  he, 
laughing;  'but  you  see  that  we  sailors  not  only  have  all 
sorts  of  technicals  for  the  parts  of  a  ship,  but  we  have 
technical  meanings  for  even  the  words  of  common  life,  so 
that   though.  I   might   call  you  a   consummate   humbug,  I 


MR.   CUTBILL  ARRIVES  AT  CASTELLO.  227 

could  n't  say  as  much  to  a  Vice- Admiral  without  the  risk 
of  being  judged  by  professional  etiquette.' 

"  'But  you  did  n't  call  him  that,  did  you?  '  said  I. 

"  'I  '11  call  you  worse,  Cutty,'  says  he,  laughing,  'if  you 
don't  take  your  wine.' 

'''And  now,  Jack,'  said  I,  'it's  on  the  stroke  of  one; 
I  must  start  with  the  express  at  one-forty,  and  as  I  came 
down  here  for  nothing  on  earth  but  to  see  if  I  could  be  of 
any  use  to  you,  don't  let  me  go  away  only  as  wise  as  I 
came;  be  frank  and  tell  me  all  about  this  business,  and 
when  I  go  back  to  town  it  will  push  me  hard  if  I  can't  do 
something  with  the  Somerset  House  fellows  to  pull  you 
through.' 

"  'You  are  a  good-hearted  dog,  Cutty,'  says  he,  'and  I 
thought  so  the  first  day  I  saw  you;  but  my  scrape,  as  you 
call  it,  is  just  one  of  those  things  you  'd  only  blunder  in. 
My  fine  brother  Temple,  or  that  much  finer  gentleman.  Lord 
Culduff,  who  can  split  words  into  the  thinnest  of  veneers, 
might  possibly  make  such  a  confusion  that  it  would  be 
hard  to  see  who  was  right  or  who  was  wrong  in  the  whole 
affair;  but  you^  Cutty,  with  your  honest  intentions  and 
your  vulgar  good  sense,  would  be  sure  to  offend  every  one. 
There,  don't  lose  your  train;  don't  forget  the  cheroots  and 
the  punch,  and  some  pleasant  books,  if  they  be  writing  any 
such  just  now.' 

"  'If  you  want  money,'  said  I,  — 'I  mean  for  the  defence.' 

"  'Not  sixpence  for  the  lawyers.  Cutty;  of  that  you  may 
take  your  oath,'  said  he,  as  he  shook  my  hand.  'I  'd  as 
soon  think  of  sending  the  wardroom  dinner  overboard  to 
the  sharks.'  We  parted,  and  the  next  thing  I  saw  of  him 
was  that  paragraph  in  the  'Times.'" 

"How  misfortunes  thicken  around  us.  About  a  month 
or  six  weeks  ago,  when  you  came  down  here  first,  I  suppose 
there  was  n't  a  family  in  the  kingdom  could  call  itself 
happier." 

"You  did  look  jolly,  that  I  will  say;  but  somehow  — 
you  '11  not  take  the  remark  ill  —  I  saw  that,  as  we  rail-folk 
say,  it  was  a  capital  line  for  ordinary  regular  traffic,  but 
would  be  sure  to  break  down  if  you  had  a  press  of 
business." 


228  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

"I  don't  understand  you." 

"I  mean  that,  so  long  as  it  was  only  a  life  of  daily  pleas- 
ure and  enjoyment  was  before  you,  —  that  the  gravest 
question  of  the  day  was  what  horse  you  'd  ride,  or  whom 
you  'd  invite  to  dinner,  —  so  long  as  that  lasted  the  machine 
would  work  well, — no  jar,  no  friction  anywhere;  but  if 
once  trouble  —  and  I  mean  real  trouble  —  was  to  come  down 
upon  you,  it  would  find  you  all  at  sixes  and  sevens,  —  no 
order,  no  discipline  anywhere,  and,  T^hat  's  worse,  no  union. 
But  you  know  it  better  than  I  do.  You  see  yourself  that 
no  two  of  you  pull  together;  ain't  that  a  fact?" 

Augustus  shook  his  head  mournfully,  but  was  silent. 

''I  like  to  see  people  jolly,  because  they  understand  each 
other,  and  are  fond  of  each  other,  because  the^^  take  pleas- 
ure in  the  same  things,  and  feel  that  the  success  of  one  is 
the  success  of  all.  There  's  no  merit  in  being  jolly  over 
ten  thousand  a  year  and  a  house  like  Windsor  Castle. 
Now,  just  look  at  what  is  going  on,  I  may  call  it,  under 
our  noses  here.  Does  your  sister  Marion  care  a  brass 
farthing  for  Jack's  misfortunes,  or  does  he  feel  a  bit  elated 
about  her  going  to  marry  a  viscount?  Are  you  fretting 
your  heart  to  ribbons  because  that  fine  young  gent  that  left 
us  a  while  ago  is  about  to  be  sent  envoy  to  Bogota?  And 
that's  fact,  though  he  don't  know  it  yet,"  added  he,  in  a 
chuckling  whisper.  "It's  a  regular  fair-weather  family, 
and  if  it  comes  on  to  blow,  you  '11  see  if  there  's  a  storm- 
sail  amongst  you." 

"Apparently,  then,  you  were  aware  of  what  was  only 
divulged  to  me  this  evening?"  said  Augustus.  "I  mean 
the  intended  marriage  of  Lord  Culduff  to  my  sister." 

"I  should  say  I  was  aware  of  it.  I  was,  so  to  say,  pro- 
moter and  projector.  It  was  I  started  the  enterprise.  It 
was  that  took  me  over  to  town.  I  went  to  square  that 
business  of  old  Culduff.  There  was  a  question  to  be  asked 
in  the  House  about  his  appointment  that  would  have  led  to 
a  debate,  or  what  they  call  a  conversation  —  about  the 
freest  kind  of  after-dinner  talk  imaginable  —  and  they'd 
have  ripped  up  the  old  reprobate's  whole  life  —  and  I  assure 
you  there  are  passages  in  it  would  n't  do  for  the  'Metho- 
dists'   Magazine '  —  so  I  went   over   to  negotiate   a   little 


MR.   CUTBILL  ARRIVES  AT  CASTELLO.  229 

matter  with  Joel,  who  had,  as  I  well  knew,  a  small  sheaf 
of  Norton's  bills.  I  took  Joel  down  to  Greenwich  to  give 
him  a  fish-dinner,  and  talk  the  thing  over,  and  we  were 
right  comfortable  and  happy  over  some  red  Hermitage,  — 
thirty  shillings  a  bottle,  mind  you,  —  when  we  heard  a  yell, 
just  a  yell,  from  the  next  room,  and  in  walks  —  whom  do 
you  think?  —  Norton  himself,  with  his  napkin  in  his  hand 
—  he  was  dining  with  a  set  of  fellows  from  the  Garrick, 
and  he  swaggered  in  and  sat  down  at  our  table.  '  What 
infernal  robbery  are  you  two  concocting  here?  '  said  he. 
'When  the  waiter  told  me  who  were  the  fellows  at  dinner 
together,  I  said.  These  rascals  are  like  the  witches  in  Mac- 
beth, and  they  never  meet  without  there  's  mischief  in  the 
wind.'  " 

"The  way  he  put  it  was  so  strong,  there  was  something 
so  home  in  it,  that  I  burst  out  and  told  him  the  whole 
story,  and  that  it  was  exactly  himself,  and  no  other,  was 
the  man  we  were  discussing. 

"'And  you  thought,'  said  he,  'you  thought  that,  if  you 
had  a  hold  of  my  acceptances,  you  'd  put  the  screw  on  me 
and  squeeze  me  as  flat  as  you  pleased.  Oh,  generation  of 
silkworms,  ain't  you  soft!  '  cried  he,  laughing.  'Order  up 
another  bottle  of  this,  for  I  want  to  drink  your  healths. 
You  've  actually  made  my  fortune!  The  thing  will  now  be 
first  rate.  The  Culduff  inquiry  was  a  mere  matter  of  public 
morals ;  but  here,  here  is  a  direct  attempt  to  coerce  or  influ- 
ence a  member  of  Parliament.  I  '11  have  you  both  at  the 
Bar  of  the  House  as  sure  as  my  name  is  Norton.' 

"He  then  arose  and  began  to  rehearse  the  speech  he  'd 
make  when  we  were  arraigned,  and  a  spicier  piece  of  abuse 
I  never  listened  to.  The  noise  he  made  brought  the  other 
fellows  in  from  the  next  room,  and  he  ordered  them  to  make 
a  house;  and  one  was  named  speaker  and  another  black 
rod,  and  we  were  taken  into  custody  and  duly  purged  of 
our  contempt  by  paying  for  all  the  wine  drank  by  the  entire 
company,  —  a  trifle  of  five-aud-thirty  pounds  odd.  The 
only  piece  of  comfort  I  got  at  all  was  getting  into  the  rail 
to  go  back  to  town,  when  Norton  whispered  me,  'It 's  all 
right  about  Culduff.  Parliament  is  dissolved;  the  House 
rises  on  Tuesday,  and  he  '11  not  be  mentioned.'  " 


230  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

*'But  does  all  this  bear  on  the  question  of  marriage?'* 

"Quite  naturally.  Your  father  pulls  Culduff  out  of  the 
mire,  and  the  Viscount  proposes  for  your  sister.  It 's  all 
contract  business  the  whole  world  over.  By  the  way,  where 
is  our  noble  friend?  I  suppose,  all  things  considered,  I  owe 
him  a  visit." 

"You  '11  find  him  in  his  room.  He  usually  dines  alone, 
and  I  believe  Temple  is  the  only  one  admitted." 

"I  '11  send  up  my  name,"  said  he,  rising  to  ring  the  bell 
for  the  servant:  "and  I  '11  call  myself  lucky  if  he  '11  refuse 
to  see  me." 

"His  Lordship  will  be  glad  to  see  Mr.  Cutbill  as  soon  as 
convenient  to  him,"  replied  the  servant  on  his  return. 

"All  my  news  for  him  is  not  so  favorable  as  this,"  whis- 
pered Cutbill,  as  he  moved  away.  "They  won't  touch  the 
mine  in  the  City.  That  last  murder,  though  it  was  down 
in  Tipperary,  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  away  from  this, 
has  frightened  them  all;  and  they  say  they  're  quite  ready 
to  do  something  at  Lagos,  or  the  Gaboon,  but  nothing  here. 
'You  see,'  say  they,  'if  they  cut  one  or  two  of  our  people's 
heads  off  in  Africa,  we  get  up  a  gun-brig,  and  burn  the 
barracoons  and  slaughter  a  whole  village  for  it,  and  this 
restores  confidence;  but  in  Ireland  it  always  ends  with  a 
debate  in  the  House,  that  shows  the  people  to  have  great 
wrongs  and  great  patience,  and  that  their  wild  justice,  as 
some  one  called  it,  was  all  right;  and  that  sir,  that  does 
not  restore  confidence.'     Good-night." 


CHAPTER  XXVIL 


THE    VILLA    ALTIERI. 


There  is  a  short  season  in  which  a  villa  within  the  walls 
of  old  Rome  realizes  all  that  is  positive  ecstasy  in  the  life 
of  Italy.  This  season  begins  usually  towards  the  end  of 
February,  and  continues  through  the  month  of  March. 
This  interval  —  which  in  less  favored  lands  is  dedicated  to 
storms  of  rain  and  sleet,  east  winds  and  equinoctial  gales, 
tumbling  chimney-pots  and  bronchitis  —  is  here  signalized 
by  all  that  Spring,  in  its  most  voluptuous  abundance,  can 
pour  forth.  Vegetation  comes  out,  not  with  the  laggard 
step  of  northern  climes,  —  slow,  cautious,  and  distrustful, 
—  but  bursting  at  once  from  bud  to  blossom,  as  though 
impatient  for  the  fresh  air  of  life  and  the  warm  rays  of  the 
sun.  The  very  atmosphere  laughs  and  trembles  with 
vitality.  From  the  panting  lizard  on  the  urn  to  the  myriad 
of  insects  on  the  grass,  it  is  life  everywhere;  and  over  all 
sweeps  the  delicious  odor  of  the  verbena  and  the  violet, 
almost  overpowering  with  perfume,  so  that  one  feels,  in 
such  a  land,  the  highest  ecstasy  of  existence  is  that  same 
dreamy  state  begotten  of  impressions  derived  from  blended 
sense,  where  tone  and  tint  and  odor  mingle  almost  into  one. 
Perhaps  the  loveliest  spot  of  Rome  in  this  loveliest  of 
seasons  was  the  Villa  Altieri.  It  stood  on  a  slope  of  the 
Pincian,  defended  from  north  and  east,  and  looking  east- 
ward over  the  Campagua  towards  the  hills  of  Albauo.  A 
thick  ilex  grove,  too  thick  and  dark  for  Italian,  though  per- 
fect to  English  taste,  surrounded  the  house,  offering  alleys 
of  shade  that  even  the  noonday's  sun  found  impenetrable; 
while  beneath  the  slope,  and  under  shelter  of  the  hill,  lay  a 
delicious  garden,  memorable    by  a   fountain   designed   by 


232  THE  BRAI^ILEIGHS  OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

Thorwaldsen,  where  fom*  Naiades  splash  the  water  at  each 
other  under  the  fall  of  a  cataract,  —  this  being  the  costly 
caprice  of  the  Cardinal  Altieri,  to  complete  which  he  had 
to  conduct  the  water  from  the  Lake  of  Albano.  Unlike 
most  Italian  gardens,  the  plants  and  shrubs  were  not 
merely  those  of  the  south,  but  all  that  the  culture  of  Hol- 
land and  England  could  contribute  to  fragrance  and  color 
were  also  there,  and  the  gorgeous  tulips  of  the  Hague,  the 
golden  ranunculus  and  crimson  carnation,  which  attain 
their  highest  beauty  in  moister  climates,  here  were  varied 
with  chrysanthemums  and  camellias.  Gorgeous  creepers 
trailed  from  tree  to  tree  or  gracefully  trained  themselves 
around  the  marble  groups,  and  clusters  of  orange-trees, 
glittering  with  golden  fruit,  relieved  in  their  darker  green 
the  almost  too  glaring  brilliancy  of  color. 

At  a  window  which  opened  to  the  ground  —  and  from 
which  a  view  of  the  garden,  and  beyond  the  garden  the 
rich  woods  of  the  Borghese  Villa,  and  beyond  these  again, 
the  massive  dome  of  St.  Peter's,  extended  —  sat  two 
ladies,  so  wonderfully  alike  that  a  mere  glance  would  have 
proclaimed  them  to  be  sisters.  It  is  true  the  Countess 
Balderoni  was  several  years  older  than  Lady  Augusta 
Bramleigh;  but  whether  from  temperament  or  the  easier 
flow  of  an  Italian  life  in  comparison  with  the  more  wearing 
excitement  of  an  English  existence,  she  certainly  looked 
little,   if  anything,   her  senior. 

They  were  both  handsome,  —  at  least,  they  had  that  char- 
acter of  good  looks  which  in  Italy  is  deemed  beauty;  they 
were  singularly  fair,  with  large,  deep-set  blue-gray  eyes, 
and  light  brown  hair  of  a  marvellous  abundance  and  silkiest 
fibre.  They  were  alike  soft-voiced  and  gentle-mannered, 
and  alike  strong-willed  and  obstinate,  of  an  intense  selfish- 
ness, and  very  capricious. 

"His  eminence  is  late  this  evening,"  said  Lady  Augusta, 
looking  at  her  watch.     "It  is  nigh  eight  o'clock." 

"I  fancy,  Gusta,  he  was  not  quite  pleased  with  you  last 
night.  On  going  away  he  said  something,  I  didn't  exactly 
catch  it,  but  it  sounded  like  'leggierezza;  '  he  thought  you 
had  not  treated  his  legends  of  St.  Francis  with  becoming 
seriousness." 


THE  VILLA  ALTIERL  233 

"If  he  wanted  me  to  be  grave  he  oughtn't  to  tell  me 
funny  stories." 

"The  lives  of  the  saints,  Gusta!  " 

"Well,  dearest,  that  scene  in  the  forest  where  St.  Francis 
asked  the  devil  to  flog  him,  and  not  to  desist,  even  though 
he  should  be  weak  enough  to  implore  it  —  was  n't  that  dia- 
logue as  droll  as  anything  in  Boccaccio?" 

"It 's  not  decent,  it 's  not  decorous  to  laugh  at  any  inci- 
dent in  the  lives  of  holy  men." 

"Holy  men,  then,  should  never  be  funny,  at  least  when 
they  are  presented  to  me,  for  it 's  always  the  absurd  side  of 
everything  has  the  greatest  attraction  for  me." 

"This  is  certainly  not  the  spirit  which  will  lead  you  to 
the  Church!" 

"But  I  thought  I  told  you  already,  dearest,  that  it 's  the 
road  I  like,  not  the  end  of  the  journey.  Courtship  is  con- 
fessedly better  than  marriage,  and  the  being  converted  is 
infinitely  nicer  than  the  state  of  conviction." 

"Oh,  Gusta,  what  are  you  saying?" 

"SayiDg  what  I  most  fervently  feel  to  be  true.  Don't 
you  know,  better  even  than  myself,  that  it  is  the  zeal  to 
rescup  me  from  the  fold  of  the  heretics  surrounds  me  every 
evening  with  monsignori  and  vescovi,  and  attracts  to  the 
sofa  where  I  happen  to  sit,  purple  stockings  and  red,  a 
class  of  adorers,  I  am  free  to  own,  there  is  nothing  in  the 
lay  world  to  compare  with;  and  don't  you  know,  too,  that 
the  work  of  conversion  accomplished,  these  seductive  saints 
will  be  on  the  look-out  for  a  new  sinner?" 

"And  is  this  the  sincerity  in  which  you  profess  your  new 
faith?  is  it  thus  that  you  mean  to  endow  a  new  edifice  to 
the  honor  of  the  Holy  Religion  ?  " 

"Cara  mia!  I  want  worship,  homage,  and  adoration 
mj^self,  and  it  is  as  absolute  a  necessity  of  my  being,  as  if 
I  had  been  born  up  there,  and  knew  nothing  of  this  base 
earth  and  its  belongings.  Be  just,  my  dearest  sister,  and 
see  for  once  the  difference  between  us.  You  have  a  charm- 
ing husband,  who  never  plagues,  never  bores  you,  whom 
you  see  when  it  is  pleasant  to  see,  and  dismiss  when  you 
are  weary  of  him.  He  never  worries  you  about  money,  he 
has  no  especial  extravagance,  and  does  not  much  trouble 


234  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

himself  about  anytliiog  —  I  have  none  of  these.  I  am  mar- 
ried to  a  man  almost  double  my  age,  taken  from  another 
class,  and  imbued  with  a  whole  set  of  notions  different 
from  my  own.  I  can't  live  with  his  people;  my  own  won't 
have  me.  What  then  is  left  but  the  refuge  of  that  emotional 
existence  which  the  Church  offers  ?  —  a  sort  of  pious  flirta- 
tion with  a  runaway  match  in  the  distance,  only  it  is  to  be 
heaven,   not  Gretna  Green." 

''So  that  all  this  while  you  have  never  been  serious, 
Gusta?" 

"Most  serious!  I  have  actually  written  to  my  husband, 
—  you  read  the  letter,  —  acquainting  him  with  my  intended 
change  of  religion,  and  my  desire  to  mark  the  sincerity 
of  my  profession  by  that  most  signal  of  all  proofs,  —  a 
moneyed  one.  As  I  told  the  Cardinal  last  night.  Heaven 
is  never  so  sure  of  us  as  when  we  draw  on  our  banker  to  go 
there !  " 

"How  you  must  shock  his  eminence  when  you  speak  in 
this  way ! " 

"So  he  told  me;  but  I  must  own  he  looked  very  tenderly 
into  my  eyes  as  he  said  so.  Isn't  it  provoking?"  said 
she,  as  she  arose  and  moved  out  into  the  garden.  "No 
post  yet!  It  is  always  so  when  one  is  on  thorns  for  a 
letter.  Now,  when  one  thinks  that  the  mail  arrives  at  day- 
break, what  can  they  possibly  mean  by  not  distributing  the 
letters  till  evening?  Did  I  tell  you  what  I  said  to  Mon- 
signore  Ricci,  who  has  some  function  at  the  Post  Office?  " 

"No,  but  I  trust  it  was  not  a  rude  speech;  he  is  always 
so  polite." 

"I  said  that  as  I  was  ever  very  impatient  for  my  letters, 
I  had  requested  all  my  correspondents  to  write  in  a  great 
round  legible  hand,  which  would  give  the  authorities  no 
pretext  for  delay,  while  deciphering  their  contents." 

"I  declare,  Gusta,  I  am  amazed  at  you.  I  cannot  ima- 
gine how  you  can  venture  to  say  such  things  to  persons  in 
office." 

"My  dear  sister,  it  is  the  only  way  they  could  ever  hear 
them.  There  is  no  freedom  of  the  press  here;  in  society 
nobody  speaks  out.  What  would  become  of  those  people 
if  they  only  heard  the  sort  of  stories  they  tell  each  other; 


THE  VILLA   ALTIERI.  235 

besides,  I  'm  going  to  be  one  of  them.  They  must  bear 
with  a  little  indiscipline.  The  sergeant  always  pardons 
the  recruit  for  being  disorderly  on  the  day  of  enlist- 
ment." 

The  Countess  shook  her  head  disapprovingly,  and  was 
silent. 

"Oh,  dear!  oh,  dear!  "  sighed  Lady  Augusta.  "I 
wonder  what  tidings  the  post  will  bring  me!  Will  my 
affectionate  and  afflicted  husband  comply  with  my  prayer, 
and  be  willing  to  endow  the  Church,  and  secure  his  own 
freedom;  or  will  he  be  sordid,  and  declare  that  he  can't 
live  without  me?  I  know  you'd  laugh,  dear,  or  I'd  tell 
you  that  the  man  is  actually  violently  in  love  with  me. 
You  've  no  notion  of  the  difficulty  I  have  to  prevent  him 
writing  tender  letters  to  me." 

"You  are  too,  too  bad,  I  declare,"  said  the  other, 
smothering  a  rising  laugh. 

"Of  course  I  'd  not  permit  such  a  thing.  I  stand  on  my 
dignity,  and  say,  'Have  a  care,  sir.'  Oh,  here  it  comes! 
here's  the  post!  What!  only  two  letters,  after  all?  She's 
a  dun !  Madame  la  Ruelle,  Place  Vendome,  —  the  cruellest 
creature  that  ever  made  a  ball-dress.  It  is  to  tell  me  she 
can't  wait;  and  I  'm  so  sick  of  saying  she  must,  that  I  '11 
not  write  any  more.  And  who  is  this?  The  postmark  is 
'Portshandon.'  Oh!  I  see;  here's  the  name  in  the  corner. 
This  is  from  our  eldest  son,  the  future  head  of  the  house. 
Mr.  Augustus  Bramleigh  is  a  bashful  creature  of  about  my 
own  age,  who  was  full  of  going  to  New  Zealand  and  turn- 
ing sheep-farmer.  True,  I  assure  you;  he  is  an  enthusiast 
about  independence ;  which  means  he  has  a  grand  vocation 
for  the  workhouse." 

"By  what  strange  turn  of  events  has  he  become  your 
correspondent?" 

"I  should  say,  Dora,  it  looks  ill  as  regards  the  money. 
I'm  afraid  that  this  bodes  a  refusal." 

"Would  not  the  shorter  way  be  to  read  it?"  said  the 
other,  simply. 

"Yes,  the  shorter,  but  perhaps  not  the  sweeter.  There 
are  little  events  m  life  which  are  worse  than  even  uncertain- 
ties ;  but  here  goes :  — 


236  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

♦  " '  Castello. 

"'My  dear  Lady  Augusta, — 

("A  very  pretty  beginning  from  my  son  —  I  mean  my 
husband's  son;  and  yet  he  could  not  have  commenced 
'Dearest  Mamma.'  ") 

" '  I  write  my  first  letter  to  you  at  a  very  painful  moment.  My 
poor  father  was  seized  on  Tuesday  last  with  a  most  serious  and 
sudden  illness,  to  which  the  physician  as  yet  hesitates  to  give  a 
name.  It  is,  however,  on  the  brain  or  the  membranes,  and  de- 
prives him  of  all  inclination,  though  not  entirely  of  all  power,  to 
use  his  faculties.  He  is,  moreover,  enjoined  to  avoid  every  source 
of  excitement,  and  even  forbidden  to  converse.  Of  course,  under 
these  afflicting  circumstances,  everything  which  relates  to  business 
in  any  way  is  imperatively  excluded  from  his  knowledge ;  and 
must  continue  to  be  so  till  some  change  occurs. 

" '  It  is  not  at  such  a  moment  you  would  expect  to  hear  of  a 
marriage  in  the  family,  and  yet  yesterday  my  sister  Marion  was 
married  to  Lord  Viscount  Culduif .'  " 

Here  she  laid  down  the  letter,  and  stared  with  an  expres- 
sion of  almost  overwhelmed  amazement  at  her  sister. 
''Lord  Culduff!  Where's  the  'Peerage,'  Dora?  Surely  it 
must  ]3e  the  same  who  was  at  Dresden  when  we  were 
children;  he  was  n't  married  —  there  can  be  no  son.  Oh, 
here  he  is:  'Henry  Plantagenet  de  Lacey,  fourteenth  Vis- 
count Culduff;  born  9th  February,  17 — .'  Last  century. 
Why,  he  's  the  patriarch  of  the  peers,  and  she  's  twenty- 
four!     What  can  the  girl  mean?" 

"Do  read  on;  I  'm  impatient  for  more." 

"  '  The  imperative  necessity  for  Lord  Culduff  to  hold  himself  in 
readiness  for  whatever  post  in  the  diplomatic  service  the  Minister 
might  desh-e  him  to  occupy,  was  the  chief  reason  for  the  mar- 
riage taking  place  at  this  conjuncture.  My  father,  however,  him- 
self, was  very  anxious  on  the  subject ;  and  indeed,  insisted  strongly 
on  being  present.  The  ceremony  was  accordingly  performed  in 
his  own  room,  and  I  rejoice  to  say  that,  though  naturally  much 
excited,  he  does  not  appear  to  have  sustained  any  increase  of 
malady  from  this  trying  event.  I  need  not  tell  you  the  great  dis- 
parity of  age  between  my  sister  and  her  husband :  a  disparity 
which  I  own  enhsted  me  amongst  those  who  opposed  the  match. 
Marion,  however,  so  firmly  insisted  on  her  right  to  choose  for  her- 


THE   VILLA  ALTIERL  237 

self,  and  her  fortune  being  completely  at  her  own  disposal,  that 
all  continued  opposition  would  have  been  not  alone  unavailing 
for  the  present,  but  a  source  of  coldness  and  estrangement  for  the 
future. 

" '  The  Culduffs'  —  (how  sweetly  familiar)  — '  the  Culduffs  left 
this  for  Paris  this  day,  where  I  believe  they  intend  to  remain  till 
the  question  of  Lord  Culduffs  post  is  determined  on.  My  sister 
ardently  hopes  it  may  be  in  Italy,  as  she  is  most  desirous  to  be 
near  you.' 

"Can  you  imagine  such  a  horror  as  this  woman  playing 
daughter  to  me,  and  yet  going  in  to  dinner  before  me,  and 
making  me  feel  her  rank  on  every  possible  occasion!  All 
this  here  I  see  is  business,  —  nothing  but  business.  The 
Colonel,  it  would  seem,  must  have  been  breaking  before  they 
suspected,  for  all  his  late  speculations  have  turned  out  ill. 
Penstyddin  Copper  Mine  is  an  utter  failure;  the  New  Cale- 
donian Packet  Line  a  smash;  and  there's  a  whole  list  of 
crippled  enterprises.  It 's  very  nice  of  Augustus,  however, 
to  say  that,  though  he  mentions  these  circumstances,  which 
might  possibly  reach  me  through  other  channels,  no  event 
that  he  could  contemplate  should  in  any  way  affect  my 
income,  or  any  increase  of  it  that  I  deem  essential  to  my 
comfort  or  convenience;  and  although  in  total  ignorance  as 
he  is  of  all  transactions  of  the  house,  he  begs  me  to  write 
to  himself  directly  when  any  question  of  increased  expense 
should  arise  —  which  I  certainly  will.  He  's  a  buon  figliu- 
olo^  Dolly,  that  must  be  said,  and  it  would  be  shameful  not 
to  develop  such  generous  instincts. 

"  *  If  my  father's  illness  should  be  unhappily  protracted,  means 
must  be  taken,  I  believe,  to  devolve  his  share  in  business  matters 
upon  some  other.  I  regret  that  it  cannot  possibly  be  upon  my- 
self ;  but  I  am  totally  unequal  to  the  charge,  and  have  not, 
besides,  courage  for  the  heavy  responsibility.' 

"That's  the  whole  of  it,"  said  she,  with  a  sigh;  "and  all 
things  considered,  it  might  have  been  worse." 


CHAPTER  XXVin. 


CASTELLO. 


Castello  had  now  become  a  very  dreary  abode.  Lord  and 
Lady  Culduff  had  taken  their  departure  for  Paris.  Temple 
had  gone  up  to  town  to  try  and  manage  an  exchange,  if  by 
good  luck  any  one  could  be  found  to  believe  that  Bogota 
was  a  desirable  residence,  and  a  fine  field  for  budding  diplo- 
macies ;  and  none  remained  but  Nelly  and  Augustus  to  re- 
lieve each  other  in  watches  beside  their  father's  sick-bed. 

Young,  and  little  experienced  in  life  as  she  was,  Nelly 
proved  a  great  comfort  and  support  to  her  brother  in  these 
trying  hours.  At  first  he  told  her  nothing  of  the  doubts 
and  fears  that  beset  him.  In  fact  they  had  assumed  no 
shape  sufficiently  palpable  to  convey. 

It  was  his  daily  custom  to  go  over  the  letters  that  each 
morning  brought,  and  in  a  few  words  —  the  very  fewest  he 
could  employ  —  acquaint  Mr.  Underwood,  the  junior  part- 
ner, of  his  father's  precarious  state,  and  protest  against 
being  able,  in  the  slightest  degree,  to  offer  any  views  or 
guidance  as  to  the  conduct  of  matters  of  business.  These 
would  now  and  then  bring  replies  in  a  tone  that  showed 
how  little  Underwood  himself  was  acquainted  with  many 
of  the  transactions  of  the  house,  and  how  completely  he 
was  accustomed  to  submit  himself  to  Colonel  Bramleigh's 
guidance.  Even  in  his  affected  retirement  from  business, 
BramJeigh  had  not  withdrawn  from  the  direction  of  the 
weightiest  of  the  matters  which  regarded  the  firm,  and 
jealously  refused  any  —  the  slightest  —  attempt  of  his  part- 
ner to  influence  his  judgment. 

One  of  Underwood's  letters  completely  puzzled  Augustus; 
not  only  by  the  obscurity  of  its  wording,  but  by  the  evident 
trace   in  it  of   the  writer's  own  inability  to   explain   his 


CASTELLO.  239 

meaning.  There  was  a  passage  which  ran  thus:  "Mr. 
Sedley  was  down  again,  and  this  time  the  amount  is  two 
thousand  five  hundred;  and  though  I  begged  he  would  give 
me  time  to  communicate  with  you  before  honoring  so 
weighty  a  draft,  he  replied  —  I  take  pains  to  record  his 
exact  words:  —  'There  is  no  time  for  this;  I  shall  think 
myself  very  fortunate,  and  deem  Colonel  Bramleigh  more 
fortunate  still,  if  I  am  not  forced  to  call  upon  you  for  four 
times  as  much  vfithin  a  fortnight.'  "  After  referring  to 
other  matters,  there  was   this  at   the  end  of   the  letter  — 

"  S has  just  repaid  the  amount  he  so  lately  drew  from 

the  bank;  he  appeared  chagrined  and  out  of  spirits,  merely 
saying,  'Tell  the  Colonel  the  negotiation  has  broke  down, 
and  that  I  will  write  to-morrow.'" 

The  promised  letter  from  Sedley  had  not  come,  but  in  its 
place  was  a  telegram  from  him,  saying,  *'I  find  I  must  see 
and  speak  with  you,  1  shall  go  over  by  Saturday,  and  be 
with  you  on   Sunday  morning." 

''Of  course  he  cannot  see  papa,"  said  Nelly;  *'the  doctor 
more  strongly  than  ever  insists  on  perfect  repose.'" 

"And  it 's  little  worth  his  while  to  make  the  journey  to 
see  we,"  said  he,  dispiritedly. 

"'Perhaps  he  only  wants  your  sanction,  your  concurrence 
to  something  he  thinks  it  wise  to  do  —  who  knows  r*  " 

"Just  so,  Nelly;  who  knows?  All  these  weighty  specu- 
lations entered  upon  to  convert  thousands  into  tens  of  thou- 
sands have  no  sympathy  of  mine.  1  see  no  object  in  such 
wealth.  The  accumulation  of  what  never  spares  one  a 
moment  for  its  enjoyment,  seems  to  me  as  foolish  as  the 
act  of  a  man  who  would  pass  his  life  scaling  a  mountain  to 
obtain  a  view,  and  drop  down  of  fatigue  before  he  had  once 
enjoyed  it.  You  and  I,  1  take  it,  would  be  satisfied  with 
tar  humbler  fortune?" 

"You  and  I,  Gusty,"  said  she,  laughingly,  "are  the 
ignoble  members  of  this  family." 

''  Then  there  comes  another  difficulty ;  Sedley  will  at  once 
see  that  I  have  not  shared  my  father's  confidence,  and  he 
will  be  very  cautious  about  telling  me  of  matters  which 
have  not  been  intrusted  to  me  already." 

"Perhaps  we  are  onl}^  worrying    ourselves    for   nothing, _ 


240  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

Gusty.  Perhaps  there  are  no  secrets  after  all ;  or  at  worst, 
only  those  trade  secrets  which  are  great  mysteries  in  the 
counting  house,  but  have  no  interest  for  any  not  deep  in 
speculation." 

'^If  I  only  thought  so!  " 

"Have  you  sufficient  confidence  in  Mr.  Cutbill  to  take 
him  into  your  counsel?     He  will  be  back  here  to  morrow." 

"  Scarcely,  Nelly.  1  do  not  exactly  distrust,  but  I  can't 
say  that  1  like  him." 

"I  hated  him  at  first;  but  either  I  have  got  used  to  his 
vulgarity,  or  1  fancy  that  he  is  really  good-natured,  or  from 
whatever  the  cause,  I  incline  to  like  him  better  than  when 
he  came,  and  certainly  he  behaved  well  to  poor  Jack." 

"Ah,  there  's  another  trouble  that  1  have  not  thought  of. 
Jack,  who  does  not  appear  to  know  how  ill  my  poor  father 
is,  asks  if  he  could  not  be  induced  to  write  to  —  somebody 

—  1  forget  whom,  in  his  behalf.  In  fact,  Nelly,  there  is 
not  a  corner  without  its  special  difficulty,  and  I  verily 
believe  there  never  was  a  man  less  made  to  meet  them  than 
myself." 

"I  '11  take  as  much  of  the  load  as  I  have  strength  for," 
said  she,   quietly. 

"I  know  that;  1  know  it  well,  Nelly.  I  can  scarcely 
say  what  I  'd  do  without  you  now.  Here  comes  the  doctor. 
I  'm  very  anxious  to  hear  what  he  '11  say  this  evening." 

Belton  had  made  a  long  visit  to  the  sick  room,  and  his 
look  was  graver  than  usual  as  he  came  down  the  stairs. 
"His  head  is  full  of  business;  he  will  give  his  brain  no 
respite,"  said  he;  "but  for  that,  1  'd  not  call  his  case  hope- 
less. Would  it  not  be  possible  to  let  him  suppose  that  all 
the  important  matters  which  weigh  upon  him  were  in  safe 
hands  and  in  good  guidance?" 

Augustus  shook  his  head  doubtiugly. 

*'At  least  could  he  not  be  persuaded  to  suffer  some  one 

—  yourself,  for  example  —  to  take  the  control  of  such 
affairs  as  require  prompt  action  till  such  time  as  he  may  be 
able  to  resume  their  management  himself?" 

"I  doubt  it,  Doctor;  I  doubt  it  much.  Men  who,  like 
my  father,  have  had  to  deal  with  vast  and  weighty  inter- 
ests, grow  to  feel  that  inexperienced  people  —  of  my  own 


CASTELLO.  241 

stamp,  for  instance  —  are  but  sorry  substitutes  in  time  of 
difficulty;  and  I  have  more  than  once  lieard  him  say,  'I'd 
rather  lash  the  tiller  and  go  below,  than  give  over  the  helm 
to  a  bad  steersman. '  " 

"I  would  begin,"  continued  the  doctor,  "by  forbidding 
him  all  access  to  his  letters.  You  must  have  seen  how 
nervous  and  excited  he  becomes  as  the  hour  of  the  post 
draws  nigh.  I  think  I  shall  take  this  responsibility  on 
myself." 

"I  wish  you  would." 

"He  has  given  me,  in  some  degree,  the  opportunity;  for 
he  has  already  asked  when  he  might  have  strength  enough 
to  dictate  a  letter,  and  I  have  replied  that  I  would  be 
guided  by  the  state  in  which  I  may  find  him  to-morrow 
for  the  answer.  '  My  impression  is  that  what  he  calls  a 
letter  is  in  reality  a  will.  Are  you  aware  whether  he  has 
yet  made  one?" 

"I  know  nothing  —  absolutely  nothing  —  of  my  father's 
affairs." 

"The  next  twelve  hours  will  decide  much,"  said  the 
doctor,  as  he  moved  away,  and  Augustus  sat  pondering 
alone  over  what  he  had  said,  and  trying  to  work  out  in  his 
mind  whether  his  father's  secrets  involved  anything  deeper 
and  more  serious  than  the  complications  of  business  and 
the  knotty  combinations  of  weighty  affairs. 

Wearied  out  —  for  he  had  been  up  the  greater  part  of  the 
night  —  and  fatigued,  he  fell  off  at  last  into  a  heavy  sleep, 
from  which  he  was  awoke  by  Nelly,  who,  gently  leaning  on 
his  shoulder,  whispered,  "Mr.  Sedley  has  come.  Gusty;  he 
is  at  supper  in  the  oak  parlor.  I  told  him  I  thought  you 
had  gone  to  lie  down  for  an  hour,  for  I  knew  you  were 
tired." 

"No,  not  tired,  Nelly,'  said  he,  arousing  himself,  half- 
ashamed  of  being  caught  asleep.  "I  came  in  here  to  think, 
and  I  believe  I  dropped  into  a  doze.  What  is  he  like,  — 
this  Mr.   Sedley?     What  manner  of  man  is  he?" 

"  He  is  small  and  gray,  with  a  slight  stoop,  and  a  formal 
sort  of  manner.  I  don't  like  him.  I  mean  his  manner 
checked  and  repelled  me,  and  I  was  glad  to  get  away  from 
him." 

16 


242  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

"My  father  thinks  highly  of  his  integrity,  I  know." 

"Yes,  I  am  aware  of  that.  He  is  an  excellent  person,  I 
believe;  rather  non-attractive." 

"Well,"  said  he,  with  a  half-sigh,  "I'll  go  and  see 
whether  my  impression  of  him  be  the  same  as  yours.  Will 
you  come  in,  Nelly?" 

"Not  unless  you  particularly  wish  it,"  said  she,  gravely. 

"No;  I  make  no  point  of  it,  Nelly.  I  '11  see  you  again 
by-and-by." 

Augustus  found  Mr.  Sedley  over  his  wine  He  had 
despatched  a  hasty  meal,  and  was  engaged  looking  over  a 
mass  of  papers  and  letters  with  which  a  black  leather  bag 
at  his  side  seemed  to  be  filled.  After  a  few  words  of  greet- 
ing, received  by  the  visitor  with  a  formal  politeness, 
Augustus  proceeded  to  explain  how  his  father's  state  pre- 
cluded all  questions  of  business,  and  that  the  injunctions 
of  the  doctor  were  positive  on  this  head. 

"His  mind  is  clear,  however,  isn't  it?"  asked  Sedley. 

"  Perfectly.  He  has  never  wandered,  except  in  the  few 
moments  after  sleep." 

"I  take  it  I  shall  be  permitted  to  see  him?  " 

"Certainly;  if  the  doctor  makes  no  objection,  you  shall." 

"And  possibly,  too,  I  may  be  allowed  to  ask  him  a  ques- 
tion or  two?  Matters  which  I  know  he  will  be  well  pre- 
pared to  answer  me." 

"I  am  not  so  confident  about  that.  Within  the  last  hour 
Doctor  Belton  has  declared  perfect  quiet,  perfect  repose,  to 
be  of  the  utmost  importance  to  my  father." 

"Is  it  not  possible,  Mr.  Bramleigh,  that  I  may  be  able  to 
contribute  to  this  state  by  setting  your  father's  mind  at 
rest,  with  reference  to  what  may  press  very  heavily  on 
him?" 

"That  is  more  than  I  can  answer,"  said  Augustus, 
cautiously. 

"Well,"  said  Sedley,  pushing  back  his  chair  from  the 
table,  "  if  I  am  not  permitted  to  see  Colonel  Bramleigh,  I 
shall  have  made  this  journey  for  nothing  —  without,  sir, 
that  you  will  consent  to  occupy  your  father's  position,  and 
give  your  sanction  to  a  line  of  action?" 

"Y'ou  know  my  father,  Mr.  Sedley,  and  I  need  not  tell 


CASTELLO.  243 

you  how  so  presumptuous  a  step  on  my  part  might  be 
resented  by  him." 

"Under  ordinary  circumstances,  I  am  sure  he  would 
resent  such  interference:  but  here,  in  the  present  critical 
emergency,  he  might  feel,  and  not  without  reason,  perhaps, 
more  displeased  at  your  want  of  decision." 

"But  when  I  tell  you,  Mr.  Sedley,  that  I  know  nothing 
of  business,  that  I  know  no  more  of  the  share  list  than  I  do 
of  Sanscrit,  that  I  never  followed  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
funds,  and  am  as  ignorant  of  what  influences  the  exchanges 
as  I  am  of  what  affects  the  tides,  —  when  I  have  told  you 
all  this,  you  will,  I  am  sure,  see  that  any  opinion  of  mine 
must  be  utterly  valueless." 

"I  don't  exactly  know,  Mr.  Bramleigh,  that  I  'd  have 
selected  you  if  I  wanted  a  guide  to  a  great  speculation  or  a 
large  investment;  but  the  business  which  has  brought  me 
down  here  is  not  of  this  nature.  It  is,  besides,  a  question 
as  to  which,  in  the  common  course  of  events,  you  might  be 
obliged  to  determine  what  line  you  would  adopt.  After 
your  father,  you  are  the  head  of  this  family,  and  I  think  it 
is  time  you  should  learn  that  you  may  be  called  upon  to- 
morrow, or  next  day,  to  defend  your  right,  not  only  to  your 
property,   but  to  your  name." 

"For  Heaven's  sake,  what  do  you  mean?" 

"Be  calm,  sir,  and  grant  me  a  patient  hearing,  and  you 
shall  hear  the  subject  on  which  I  have  come  to  obtain  your 
father's  opinion;  and  failing  that,  yours  —  for,  as  I  have 
said,  Mr.  Bramleigh,  a  day  or  two  more  may  make  the  case 
one  for  your  own  decision.  And  now,  without  entering 
into  the  history  of  the  affair,  I  will  simply  say  that  an 
old  claim  against  your  father's  entailed  estates  has  been 
recently  revived,  and  under  circumstances  of  increased 
importance ;  that  I  have  been,  for  some  time  back,  in  nego- 
tiation to  arrange  this  matter  by  a  compromise,  and  with 
every  hope  of  success ;  but  that  the  negotiations  have  been 
unexpectedly  broken  off  by  the  demands  of  the  claimant,  — 
demands  so  far  above  all  calculation,  and,  indeed,  I  may 
say  above  all  fairness,  —  that  I  have  come  over  to  ask 
whether  your  father  will  accede  to  them  or  accept  the  issue 
of  the  law  as  to  his  right." 


244  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

Augustus  sat  like  one  stunned  by  a  heavy  blow,  not 
utterly  unconscious,  but  so  much  overcome  and  so  confused 
that  he  could  not  venture  to  utter  a  word. 

"I  see  I  have  shocked  you  by  my  news,  Mr.  Bramleigh; 
but  these  are  things  not  to  be  told  by  halves." 

"I  know  nothing  of  all  this;  I  never  so  much  as  heard  of 
it,"  gasped  out  Augustus.  "Tell  me  all  that  you  know 
about  it." 

'  "That  would  be  a  somewhat  long  story,"  said  the  other, 
smiling;  "but  I  can,  in  a  short  space,  tell  you  enough  to 
put  the  main  facts  before  you,  and  enable  you  to  see  that 
the  case  is,  with  all  its  difficulties  of  proof,  a  very 
weighty  and  serious  one,  and  not  to  be  dismissed,  as 
your  father  once  opined,  as  the  mere  menace  of  a  needy 
adventurer." 

With  as  much  brevity  as  the  narrative  permitted,  Sedley 
told  the  story  of  Pracontal's  claim.  It  was,  he  said,  an 
old  demand  revived;  but  under  circumstances  that  showed 
that  the  claimant  had  won  over  adherents  to  his  cause,  and 
that  some  men  with  means  to  bring  the  case  to  trial  had 
espoused  his  side.  Pracontal's  father,  added  he,  was  easily 
dealt  with;  he  was  a  vulgar  fellow,  of  dissipated  habits, 
and  wasteful  ways;  but  his  taste  for  plot  and  intrigue  — 
very  serious  conspiracies,  too,  at  times  —  had  so  much  in- 
volved him  that  he  was  seldom  able  to  show  himself,  and 
could  only  resort  to  letter-writing  to  press  his  demands.  In 
fact,  it  was  always  his  lot  to  be  in  hiding  on  this  charge  or 
that;  and  the  police  of  half  Europe  were  eager  in  pursuit 
of  him.  With  a  man  so  deeply  compromised,  almost  out- 
lawed over  the  whole  Continent,  it  was  not  difficult  to  treat, 
and  it  happened  more  than  once  that  he  was  for  years 
without  anything  being  heard  of  him;  and,  in  fact,  it  was 
clear  that  he  only  preferred  his  claim  as  a  means  of  raising 
a  little  money,  when  all  other  means  of  obtaining  supplies 
had  failed  him.  At  last,  news  of  his  death  arrived.  He 
died  at  Monte  Video ;  and  it  was  at  first  believed  that  he 
had  never  married,  and  consequently,  that  his  claim,  if  it 
deserved  such  a  name,  died  with  him.  It  was  only  three 
years  ago  that  the  demand  was  revived,  and  this  man,  M. 
Anatole  Pracontal,  as  he  called  himself,  using  his  maternal 


CASTELLO.  '245 

name,  appeared  in  the  field  as  the  rightful  owner  of  the 
Bramleigh  estates. 

"  Now  this  man  is  a  very  different  sort  of  person  from 
his  father.  He  has  been  well  educated,  mixed  much  with 
the  world,  and  has  the  manners  and  bearing  of  a  gentleman. 
I  have  not  been  able  to  learn  much  of  his  career;  but  I 
know  that  he  served  as  a  lieutenant  in  a  French  hussar 
regiment,  and  subsequently  held  some  sort  of  employment 
in  Egypt.  He  has  never  stooped  to  employ  threat  or 
menace,  but  frankly  appealed  to  the  law  to  establish  his 
claim;  and  his  solicitor.  Kelson,  of  Furnival's  Inn,  is  one 
of  the  most  respectable  men  in  the  profession." 

"You  have  seen  this  Monsieur  Pracontal  yourself?" 

"Yes.  By  a  strange  accident  I  met  him  at. your  brother's. 
Captain  Bramleigh' s,  breakfast  table.  They  had  been  fel- 
low-travellers, without  the  slightest  suspicion  on  either  side 
how  eventful  such  a  meeting  might  be.  Your  brother,  of 
course,  could  know  nothing  of  Pracontal's  pretensions;  but 
Pracontal,  when  he  came  to  know  with  whom  he  had  ,been 
travelling,  must  have  questioned  himself  closely  as  tc^what 
might  have  dropped  from  him  inadvertently." 

Augustus  leaned  his  head  on  his  hand  in  deep  thought, 
and  for  several  minutes  was  silent.  At  last  he  said,  "  Give 
me  your  opinion,  Mr.  Sedley,  — I  don't  mean  your  opinion 
as  a  lawyer,  relying  on  nice  technical  questions  or  minute 
points  of  law,  but  simply  your  judgment  as  a  man  of  sound 
sense,  and,  above  all,  of  such  integrity  as  I  know  you  to 
possess,  — and  tell  me  what  do  you  think  of  this  claim?  Is 
it,  —  in  one  word,   is  it  founded  on  right?" 

"You  are  asking  too  much  of  me,  Mr.  Bramleigh.  First 
of  all,  you  ask  me  to  disassociate  myself  from  all  the  habits 
and  instincts  of  my  daily  life,  and  give  you  an  opinion  on 
a  matter  of  law,  based  on  other  rules  of  evidence  than  those 
which  alone  I  suffer  myself  to  be  guided  by.  I  only  recog- 
nize one  kind  of  right,  —  that  which  the  law  declares  and 
decrees." 

"  Is  there  not  such  a  thing  as  a  moral  right?  " 

"There  may  be;  but  we  are  disputatious  enough  in  this 
world,  with  all  our  artificial  aids  to  some  fixity  of  judgment, 
and  for  Heaven's  sake  let  us  not  soar  up  to  the  realms  of 


246'  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

morality  for  our  decisions,  or  we  shall  Lid  adieu  to  guidance 
forever." 

"I'm  not  of  your  mind  there,  sir.  I  think  it  is  quite 
possible  to  conceive  a  case  in  which  there  could  be  no  doubt 
on  which  side  lay  the  right,  and  not  difficult  to  believe  that 
there  are  men  who  would  act,  on  conviction,  to  their  own 
certain  detriment." 

''It 's  a  very  hopeful  view  of  humanity,  Mr.  Bramleigh," 
said  the  lawyer,  and  he  took  a  pinch  of  snuff. 

"I  am  certain  it  is  a  just  one.  At  least,  I  will  go  this 
far  to  sustain  my  opinion.  I  will  declare  to  you  here,  that 
if  the  time  should  ever  come  that  it  may  depend  upon  me 
to  decide  this  matter,  if  I  satisfy  my  mind  that  M. 
Pracontal's  claim  be  just  and  equitable,  — that,  in  fact,  he 
is  simply  asking  for  his  own,  —  I  '11  not  screen  myself 
behind  the  law's  delays  or  its  niceties;  I  '11  not  make  it  a 
question  of  the  longest  purse  or  the  ablest  advocate,  but 
frankly  admit  that  the  property  is  his,  and  cede  it  to  him." 

"  I  have  only  one  remark  to  make,  Mr.  Bramleigh,  which 
is,  keep  this  determination  strictly  to  yourself;  and  above 
all  things,  do  not  acquaint  Colonel  Bramleigh  with  these 
opinions." 

"I  suspect  that  my  father  is  not  a  stranger  to  them,"  said 
Augustus,  reddening  with  shame  and  irritation  together. 

"It  is  therefore  as  well,  sir,  that  there  is  no  question  of 
a  compromise  to  lay  before  you.  You  are  for  strict  justice 
and  no  favor." 

"I  repeat,  Mr.  Sedley,  I  am  for  him  who  has  the  right." 

"So  am  I,"  quickly  responded  Sedley;  "and  we  alone 
differ  about  the  meaning  of  that  word ;  but  let  me  ask  an- 
other question.  Are  you  aware  that  this  claim  extends  to 
nearly  everything  you  have  in  the  world ;  that  the  interest 
alone  on  the  debt  would  certainly  swallow  up  all  your 
funded  property,  and  make  a  great  inroad,  besides,  on  your 
securities  and  foreign  bonds  ?  " 

"I  can  well  believe  it,"  said  the  other,  mournfully. 

"I  must  say,  sir,"  said  Sedley,  as  he  rose  and  proceeded 
to  thrust  the  papers  hurriedly  into  his  bag,  "  that  though 
I  am  highly  impressed  —  very  highly  impressed,  indeed, 
with  the  noble  sentiments  you  have  delivered  on  this  occa- 


CASTELLO.  247 

sion  —  sentiments,  I  am  bound  to  admit,  that  a  long  pro- 
fessional career  has  never  made  me  acquainted  with  till  this 
day  —  yet,  on  the  whole,  Mr.  Bramleigh,  looking  at  the 
question  with  a  view  to  its  remote  consequences,  and  specu- 
lating on  what  would  result  if  such  opinions  as  yours  were 
to  meet  a  general  acceptance,  I  am  bound  to  say  I  prefer 
the  verdict  of  twelve  men  in  a  jury-box  to  the  most  impar- 
tial judgment  of  any  individual  breathing;  and  I  wish  you 
a  very  good-night." 

What  Mr.  Sedley  muttered  to  himself  as  he  ascended  the 
stairs,  in  what  spirit  he  canvassed  the  character  of  Mr. 
Augustus  Bramleigh,  the  reader  need  not  know;  and  it  is 
fully  as  well  that  our  story  does  not  require  it  should  be 
recorded.  One  only  remark,  however,  may  be  preserved; 
it  was  said  as  he  reached  the  door  of  his  room,  and  appar- 
ently in  a  sort  of  summing  up  of  all  that  had  occurred  to 
him,  —  "  These  creatures,  with  their  cant  about  conscience, 
don't  seem  to  know  that  this  mischievous  folly  would  un- 
settle half  the  estates  in  the  kingdom;  and  there's  not  a 
man  in  England  would  know  what  he  was  born  to,  till  he 
had  got  his  father  in  a  madhouse." 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE    HOTEL    BRISTOL. 

In  a  handsome  apartment  of  the  Hotel  Bristol  at  Paris,  sat 
Lord  and  Lady  Culduff  at  tea.  They  were  in  deep  mourn- 
ing; and  though  they  were  perfectly  alone,  the  room  was 
splendidly  lighted  —  branches  of  candles  figuring  on  every 
console,  and  the  glass  lustre  that  hung  from  the  ceiling  a 
blaze  of  waxlights. 

If  Lord  Culduff  looked  older  and  more  careworn  than  we 
have  lately  seem  him,  Marion  seemed  in  higher  bloom  and 
beauty,  and  the  haughty,  half-defiant  air  which  had,  in  a 
measure,  spoiled  the  charm  of  her  girlhood,  sat  with  a  sort 
of  dignity  on  her  features  as  a  woman. 

Not  a  word  was  spoken  on  either  side ;  and  from  her  look 
of  intense  preoccupation,  as  she  sat  gazing  on  the  broad 
hem  of  her  handkerchief,  it  was  evident  that  her  thoughts 
were  wandering  far  away  from  the  place  she  was  in.  As 
they  sat  thus,  the  door  was  noiselessly  opened  by  a  servant 
in  deep  black,  who,  in  a  very  subdued  voice,  said,  "The 
Duke  de  Castro,  your  Excellency." 

"  I  don  't  receive,"  was  the  cold  reply,  and  the  man  with- 
drew. In  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after,  he  reappeared, 
and  in  the  same  stealthy  tone  said,  "Madame  la  Comtesse 
de  Renneville  begs  she  may  have  the  honor  — " 

"  Lady  Culduff  does  not  receive,"  said  his  Lordship, 
sternly. 

"  The  Countess  has  been  very  kind ;  she  has  been  here  to 
inquire  after  me  several  times." 

"  She  is  a  woman  of  intense  curiosity,"  said  he,  slowly. 

"  I  'd  have  said  of  great  good  nature." 

"And  you'd  have  said  perfectly  wrong,  madam.  The 
woman  is  a  political  intriguante  who  only  lives  to  unravel 


THE   HOTEL  BRISTOL.  249 

mysteries ;  and  the  one  that  is  now  puzzling  her  is  too  much 
for  her  good  manners." 

"  I  declare,  my  Lord,  that  I  do  not  follow  you." 

"I'm  quite  sure  of  that,  madam.  The  sort  of  address 
Madame  de  Renneville  boasts  was  not  a  quality  that  your 
life  in  Ireland  was  likely  to  make  you  familiar  with." 

"  1  beg  you  to  remember,  my  Lord,"  said  she,  angrily, 
"  that  all  my  experiences  of  the  world  have  not  been  derived 
from  that  side  of  the  Channel." 

"I'm  cruel  enough  to  say,  madam,  that  I  wish  they  had  ! 
There  is  nothing  so  difficult  as  unlearning." 

"  I  wish,  my  Lord  —  I  heartily  wish  — that  you  had  made 
this  discovery  earlier." 

"Madam,"  said  he,  slowly,  and  with  much  solemnity  of 
manner,  "I  owe  it  to  each  of  us  to  own  that  I  had  made 
what  you  are  pleased  to  call  this  '  discovery '  while  there  was 
yet  time  to  obviate  its  consequences.  My  very  great  admira- 
tion had  not  blinded  me  as  to  certain  peculiarities,  let  me 
call  them,  of  manner;  and  if  my  vanity  induced  me  to 
believe  that  I  should  be  able  to  correct  them,  it  is  my  onlv 
error." 

"I  protest,  my  Lord,  if  my  temper  sustain  me  under 
such  insult  as  this,  I  think  I  might  be  acquitted  of  ill 
breeding." 

"  I  live  in  the  hope,  madam,  that  such  a  charge  would  be 
impossible." 

"I  suppose  you  mean,"  said  she,  with  a  sneering  smile, 
"  when  I  have  taken  more  lessons  —  when  I  have  completed 
the  course  of  instruction  you  so  courteously  began  with  me 
yesterday  ?  " 

"Precisely,  madam,  precisely.  There  are  no  heaven- 
born  courtiers.  The  graces  of  manner  are  as  much  matter 
of  acquirement  as  are  the  notes  of  music.  A  delicate 
organization  has  the  same  disadvantage  in  the  one  case  that 
a  fine  ear  has  in  the  other.  It  substitutes  an  aptitude  for 
what  ought  to  be  pure  acquirement.  The  people  who  are 
naturally  well  mannered  are  like  the  people  who  sing  by 
ear;  and  I  need  not  say  what  inflictions  are  both." 

"  And  you  really  think,  my  Lord,  that  I  may  yet  be  able  to 
enter  a  room  and  leave  it  with  becoming  grace  and  dignity-" 


250  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  You  enter  a  room  well,  madam,"  said  he,  with  a  judicial 
slowness.  "Now  that  you  have  subdued  the  triumphant 
air  I  objected  to,  and  assumed  more  quietness  —  the  blended 
softness  with  reserve  —  your  approach  is  good,  I  should  say, 
extremely  good.  To  withdraw  is,  however,  far  more  ditli- 
cult.  To  throw  into  the  deference  of  leave-taking  —  for  it 
is  always  a  permission  you  seem  to  ask  —  the  tempered 
sorrow  of  departure  with  the  sense  of  tasted  enjoyment,  to 
do  this  with  ease  and  elegance,  and  not  a  touch  of  the 
dramatic  about  it,  is  a  very  high  success ;  and  I  grieve  to 
say,  madam,"  added  he,  seriously,  "it  is  a  success  not  yet 
accorded  you.  Would  you  do  me  the  great  favor  to  repeat 
our  lesson  of  this  morning  —  I  mean  the  courtesy  with  the 
two  steps  retiring,   and  then  the   slide  ?  " 

"If  you  do  not  think  me  well  mannered,  my  Lord,  you 
must  at  least  believe  me  very  good-tempered,"  said  she, 
flushing. 

"  Let  me  assure  you,  my  Lady,  that  to  the  latter  quality  I 
attach  no  importance  whatever.  Persons  who  respect  them- 
selves never  visit  peculiarities  of  temperament  on  others. 
AYe  have  our  infirmities  of  nature,  as  we  have  our  maladies ; 
but  we  keep  them  for  ourselves,  or  for  our  doctor.  It  is 
the  triumph  of  the  well-bred  world  to  need  nothing  but  good 
manners." 

"  What  charming  people  !  I  take  it  that  heaven  must  be 
peopled  with  lords-in- waiting." 

"Let  me  observe  to  your  Ladyship  that  there  is  no  greater 
enormity  in  manners  than  an  epigram.  Keep  this  smartness 
for  correspondence  exclusively,  abstain  from  it  strictly  in 
conversation." 

"I  protest,  my  Lord,  your  lessons  come  so  thick  that  I 
despair  of  being  able  to  profit  by  half  of  them.  Meanwhile, 
if  I  am  not  committing  another  solecism  against  good  man- 
ners, I  should  like  to  say  good-night." 

Lord  Culduff  arose  and  walked  to  the  door,  to  be  ready  to 
open  it  as  she  approached.  Meanwhile,  she  busied  herself 
collecting  her  fan  and  her  scent-bottle  and  her  handker- 
chief, and  a  book  she  had  been  reading. 

"Hadn't  Virginie  better  come  for  these  things?"  said 
he,  quietly. 


THE   HOTEL  BRISTOL.  251 

"  Oh,  certainly,"  replied  she,  dropping  them  hurriedly  on 
the  table;  "I'm  always  transgressing;  but  I  do  hope,  my 
Lord,  with  time,  and  with  that  sincere  desire  to  learn  that 
animates  me,  I  may  yet  attain  to  at  least  so  many  of  the 
habits  of  your  Lordship's  order  as  may  enable  me  to  escape 
censure." 

He  smiled  and  bowed  a  courteous  concurrence  with  the 
wish,  but  did  not  speak.  Though  her  lip  now  trembled  with 
indignation,  and  her  cheek  was  flushed,  she  controlled  her 
temper,  and  as  she  drew  nigh  the  door  dropped  a  low  and 
most  respectful  courtesy. 

"Very  nice,  very  nice,  indeed;  a  thought,  perhaps,  too 
formal  —  I  mean  for  the  occasion  —  but  in  admirable  taste. 
Your  Ladyship  is  grace  itself." 

"  My  Lord,  you  are  a  model  of  courtesy." 

"I  cannot  even  attempt  to  convey  what  pleasure  your 
words  give  me,"  said  he,  pressing  his  hand  to  his  heart  and 
bowing  low.  Meanwhile,  with  a  darkening  brow  and  a  look 
of  haughty  defiance,  she  swept  past  him  and  left  the  room. 

"Isn't  Marion  well?"  said  Temple  Bramleigh,  as  he  en- 
tered a  few  minutes  later;  "her  maid  told  me  she  had 
gone  to  her  room." 

"Quite  well:  a  little  fagged,  perhaps,  by  a  day  of  visit- 
ing; nothing  beyond  that.  You  have  been  dining  at  the 
embassy?    whom  had  you  there?" 

"  A  family  party  and  a  few  of  the  smaller  diplomacies." 

"To  be  sure.     It  was  Friday.     Any  news  stirring?" 

"Nothing  whatever." 

"  Does  Bartleton  talk  of  retiring  still?  " 

"  Yes.  He  says  he  is  sick  of  sending  in  his  demand  for 
retirement.  That  they  always  say,  '  We  can't  spare  you ; 
you  must  hold  on  a  little  longer.  If  you  go  out  now,  there 's 
Bailey  and  Hammersmith,  and  half  a  dozen  others  will  come 
insisting  on  advancement.' " 

"Didn't  he  say  Culduff  too?  eh,  didn't  he?"  said  the 
old  lord,  with  a  wicked  twinkle  of  the  eye. 

"I'm  not  sure  he  didn't,"  said  Temple,  blushing. 

"He  did,  sir,  and  he  said  more  —  he  said,  '  Rather  than  see 
Culduff  here,  I  'd  stay  on  and  serve  these  twenty  years.' " 

"  I  did  n't  hear  him  say  that,  .certainly." 


252  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  No,  sir,  perhaps  not,  but  he  said  it  to  himself,  as  sure 
as  I  stand  here.  There  is  n't  a  country  in  Europe  —  I  say 
it  advisedly  —  where  intellect  —  I  mean  superior  intellect  — 
is  so  persistently  persecuted  as  in  England.  I  don't  want 
my  enemy  to  have  any  heavier  misfortune  than  to  be  born 
a  man  of  brains  and  a  Briton  !  Once  that  it 's  known  that 
you  stand  above  your  fellow-men,  the  whole  world  is  ar- 
rayed against  you.  Who  knows  that  better  than  he  who 
now  speaks  to  you?  Have  I  ever  been  forgiven  the  Erze- 
roum  convention?  Even  George  Canning  —  from  whom  one 
might  have  expected  better  —  even  he  used  to  say,  '  How 
well  Culduff  managed  that  commercial  treaty  with  the  Hanse 
Towns  ! '  he  never  got  over  it,  sir,  never  !  You  are  a  j^oung 
fellow  entering  upon  life  —  let  me  give  you  a  word  of  coun- 
sel. Always  be  inferior  to  the  man  you  are,  for  the  time 
being,  in  contact  with.  Outbid  him,  outjockey  him,  over- 
reach him,  but  never  forget  to  make  him  believe  he  knows 
more  of  the  game  than  you  do.  If  you  have  any  success 
over  him,  ascribe  it  to  'luck,'  mere  'luck.'  The  most 
envious  of  men  will  forgive  '  luck,'  all  the  more  if  they  de- 
spise the  fellow  who  has  profited  by  it.  Therefore,  I  say,  if 
the  intellectual  standard  of  your  rival  is  only  four  feet,  take 
care  that  with  your  tallest  heels  on,  you  don't  stand  above 
three  feet  eleven !     No  harm  if  only  three  ten  and  a  half." 

The  little  applauding  ha !  ha !  ha !  with  which  his  Lord- 
ship ended  was  faintly  chorussed  by  the  secretary. 

"  And  what  is  your  news  from  home ;  you  've  had  letters, 
have  n't  you  ?  " 

"Yes.  Augustus  writes  me  in  great  confusion.  They 
have  not^und  the  will,  and  they  begin  to  fear  that  the  very 
informal  scrap  of  paper  I  already  mentioned  is  all  that 
represents  one." 

"What!  do  you  mean  that  memorandum  stating  that 
your  father  bequeathed  all  he  had  to  Augustus,  and  trusted 
he  would  make  a  suitable  provision  for  his  brothers  and 
sisters  ?  " 

"  ITes  ;  that  is  all  that  has  been  found.  Augustus  says  in 
his  last  letter,  my  poor  father  would  seem  to  have  been  most 
painfully  affected  for  some  time  back  by  a  claim  put  forward 
to  the  title  of  all  his  landed  property,  by  a  person  assuming 


THE   HOTEL  BRISTOL.  253 

to  be  the  heir  of  my  grandfather,  and  this  claim  is  actually 
about  to  be  asserted  at  law.  The  weight  of  this  charge  and 
all  its  consequent  publicity  and  exposure  appear  to  have 
crushed  him  for  some  months  before  his  death,  and  he  had 
made  great  efforts  to  effect  a  compromise." 

A  long,  low,  plaintive  whistle  from  Lord  Culduff  arrested 
Temple's  speech,  and  for  a  few  seconds  there  was  a  dead 
silence  in  the  room. 

"  This,  then,  would  have  left  you  all  ruined  —  eh?"  asked 
Culduff,  after  a  pause. 

''  I  don't  exactly  see  to  what  extent  we  should  have  been 
liable  —  whether  only  the  estated  property,  or  also  all  funded 
moneys." 

''Everything;  every  stick  and  stone;  every  scrip  and 
debenture,  you  may  swear.  The  rental  of  the  estates  for 
years  back  would  have  to  be  accounted  for  —  with  interest." 

"  Sedley  does  not  say  so,"  said  Temple,  in  a  tone  of  con- 
siderable iiTitation. 

"These  fellows  never  do;  they  always  imply  there  is  a 
game  to  be  played,  an  issue  to  be  waited  for,  else  their  oc- 
cupation were  gone.     How  much  of  all  this  story  was  known 
to  your  sister  Marion  ?  " 
"  "  Nothing.     Neither  she  nor  any  of  us  ever  suspected  it." 

"It's  always  the  same  thing,"  said  the  Viscount,  as  he 
arose  and  settled  his  wig  before  the  glass.  "The  same 
episode  goes  on  repeating  itself  forever.  These  trade  for- 
tunes are  just  card-houses ;  they  are  raised  in  a  night,  and 
blown  away  in  the  morning." 

"You  forget,  my  Lord,  that  my  father  inherited  an  en- 
tailed estatCo" 

"  Which  turns  out  not  to  have  been  his,"  replied  he,  with 
a  grin. 

''  You  are  going  too  fast,  my  Lord,  faster  than  judge  and 
jury.  Sedley  never  took  a  very  serious  view  of  this  clauTi, 
and  he  only  concurred  in  the  attempt  to  compromise  it  out 
of  deference  to  my  father*s  dislike  to  public  scandal." 

"  And  a  very  wise  antipathy  it  was,  I  must  say.  No 
gentleman  ever  consulted  his  self-respect  by  inviting  the 
world  to  criticise  his  private  affairs.  And  how  does  this 
pleasing  incident  stand  now?     In  which  act  of  the  drama 


254  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

are  we  at  this  moment?  Is  there  an  action  at  law,  or  are 
we  in  the  stage  of  compromise?" 

*'This  is  what  Augustus  says,"  said  Temple,  taking  the 
letter  from  his  pocket  and  reading  :  "  '  Sedley  thinks  that  a 
handsome  offer  of  a  sum  down  —  say  twenty  thousand 
pounds  —  might  possibly  be  accepted ;  but  to  meet  this 
would  require  a  united  effort  by  all  of  us.  Would  Lord 
Culduff  be  disposed  to  accept  his  share  in  this  liability? 
Would  he,  I  mean,  be  willing  to  devote  a  portion  of 
Marion's  fortune  to  this  object,  seeing  that  he  is  now  one 
of  us?  I  have  engaged  Cutbill  to  go  over  to  Paris  and 
confer  with  him,  and  he  will  probably  arrive  there  by  Tues- 
day. Nelly  has  placed  at  my  disposal  the  only  sum  over 
which  she  has  exclusive  control  —  it  is  but  two  thousand 
pounds.  As  for  Jack,  matters  have  gone  very  ill  with  him, 
and  rather  than  accept  a  court-martial,  he  has  thrown  up 
his  commission  and  left  the  service.  We  are  expecting  him 
here  to-night,  but  only  to  say  good-bye,  as  he  sails  for 
China  on  Thursday.' " 

Lord  Culduff  walked  quietly  towards  the  chimney-piece  as 
Temple  concluded,  and  took  up  a  small  tobacco-box  of  chased 
silver,  from  which  he  proceeded  to  manufacture  a  cigarette 
—  a  process  on  which  he  displayed  considerable  skill  and 
patience ;  having  lighted  which,  and  taken  a  couple  of  puffs, 
he  said,  "  You'll  have  to  go  to  Bogota,  Temple,  that's  clear." 

"  Go  to  Bogota !     I  declare  I  don't  see  why." 

"  Yes,  you'll  have  to  go;  every  man  has  to  take  his 
turn  of  some  objectionable  post,  his  Gaboon  and  yellow  fever 
days.  I  myself  passed  a  year  at  Stutgard.  The  Bramleighs 
are  now  events  of  the  past.  There 's  no  use  in  fighting  against 
these  things.  They  were,  and  they  are  not:  that's  the 
whole  story.  It 's  very  hard  on  every  one,  especially  hard 
upon  me.  Reverses  in  life  sit  easily  enough  on  the  class 
that  furnishes  adventurers,  but  in  my  condition  there  are  no 
adventurers.  You  and  others  like  you  descend  to  the  ranks, 
and  nobody  thinks  the  worse  of  you.  We  —  we  cannot ! 
that 's  the  pull  you  have.  We  are  born  with  our  epaulettes, 
and  we  must  wear  them  till  we  die." 

"  It  does  not  seem  a  very  logical  consequence,  notwith- 
standing, to  me,  that  because  my  brother  may  have  to  defend 


THE   HOTEL  BRISTOL.  265 

his  title  to  his  estate,  that  I  must  accept  a  post  that  is  highly 
distasteful  to  me." 

"And  yet  it  is  the  direct  consequence.  Will  you  do  me 
the  favor  to  touch  that  bell.  I  should  like  some  claret-cup. 
The  fact  is,  we  all  of  us  take  too  little  out  of  our  prosper- 
ity !  Where  we  err  is,  we  experiment  on  good  fortune  :  now 
we  should  n't  do  that,  we  should  realize.  You,  for  instance, 
ought  to  have  made  your  '  ruuning '  while  your  father  was 
entertaining  all  the  world  in  Belgravia  The  people  could  n't 
have  ignored  you^  and  dined  with  him;  at  least,  you  need 
not  have  let  them." 

"  So  that  your  Lordship  already  looks  upon  us  as  bygones^ 
as  things  of  the  past?  " 

"  I  am  forced  to  take  this  very  disagreeable  view.  Will 
you  try  that  cup  ?  it  is  scarcely  iced  enough  for  my  liking. 
Have  you  remarked  that  they  never  make  cup  properly  in  an 
hotel?     The  clubs  alone  have  the  secret." 

"  I  suppose  you  will  confer  with  Cutbill  before  j^ou  return 
an  answer  to  Augustus?"  said  Temple,  stiffly. 

*'I  may  —  that  is,  I  may  listen  to  what  that  very  plausible 
but  not  very  polished  individual  has  to  say,  before  I  frame 
the  exact  terms  of  my  reply.  We  are  all  of  us,  so  to  say, 
'  dans  des  mauvais  draps.'  You  are  going  where  you  hate 
to  go,  and  I,  who  really  should  have  had  no  share  in  this 
general  dijsaster,  have  taken  my  ticket  in  the  lottery  when 
the  last  prize  has  just  been  paid  over  the  counter." 

"  It  is  very  hard  on  you  indeed,"  said  the  other,  scornfully. 

"  Nothing  less  than  your  sympathy  would  make  it  endur- 
able ;  "  and  as  he  spoke  he  lighted  a  bedroom  candle  and 
moved  towards  the  door.  "  Don't  tell  them  at  F.  O.  that 
you  are  going  out  unwillingly,  or  they  '11  keep  you  there. 
Trust  to  some  irregularity  when  you  are  there,  to  get  recalled, 
and  be  injured.  If  a  man  can  only  be  injured  and  brought 
before  the  House,  it's  worth  ten  years'  active  service  to  him. 
The  first  time  I  was  injured  I  was  made  secretary  of  em- 
bassy. The  second  gave  me  my  K.  C.  B.,  and  I  look  to  my 
next  misfortune  for  the  Grand  Cross.  Good-bye.  Don't 
take  the  yellow  fever,  don't  marry  a  squaw." 

And  with  a  graceful  move  of  the  hand  he  motioned  an 
adieu,  and  disappeared. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

ON    THE    ROAD, 

L'EsTRANGE  and  his  sister  were  on  their  way  to  Italy.  The 
curate  had  been  appointed  to  the  church  at  Albano,  and  lie 
was  proceeding  to  his  destination  with  as  much  happiness 
as  is  permitted  to  a  man  who,  with  a  very  humble  opinion 
of  himself,  feels  called  on  to  assume  a  position  of  some 
importance. 

Wishing,  partly  from  motives  of  enjoyment,  partly  from 
economy,  to  avoid  the  route  most  frequented  by  travellers, 
they  had  taken  the  road  through  Zurich  and  the  valley  of 
the  Upper  Rhine,  and  had  now  reached  the  little  village  of 
Dornbirn  in  the  Vorarlberg  —  a  spot  of  singular  beauty,  in 
/"  the  midst  of  a  completely  pastoral  country.  High  moun- 
tains, snow-capped  above,  pine-clad  lower  down,  descended 
by  grassy  slopes  into  rich  pasture-lands,  traversed  by  innu- 
merable streams,  and  dotted  over  with  those  cottages  of 
framed  wood,  which,  with  their  ornamented  gables  and 
quaint  galleries,  are  the  most  picturesque  peasant  houses  in 
existencco  Beautiful  cattle  covered  the  hills,  their  tinkling 
bells  ringing  out  in  the  clear  air,  and  blending  their  tones 
with  the  ceaseless  flow  of  falling  water,  imparting  just  that 
amount  of  sound  that  relieved  the  solemn  character  of  the 
scene,  and  gave  it  vitality. 

Day  after  day  found  our  two  travellers  still  lingering  here. 
There  was  a  charm  in  the  spot,  which  each  felt,  without  con- 
fessing it  to  the  other,  and  it  was  already  the  fourth  evening 
of  their  sojourn  as  they  were  sitting  by  the  side  of  a  little 
rivulet,  watching  the  dipping  flies  along  the  stream,  that  Julia 
said  suddenlj^.,  — 

"You'd  like  to  live  your  life  here,  George;  isn't  that 
so?" 


ON  THE   ROAD.  257 

*' What  makes  you  think  so,  Julia?"  said  he,  coloring 
slightly  as  he  spoke. 

"•  First  tell  me  if  I  have  not  read  you  aright?  You  like 
this  quiet,  dreamy  landscape.  You  want  no  other  changes 
than  in  the  varying  effects  of  cloud,  and  shadow,  and  mist ; 
and  you  'd  like  to  think  this  a  little  haven  against  the  storms 
and  shipwrecks  of  life  ?  " 

"  And  if  I  really  did  think  all  this,  would  my  choice  of  an 
existence  be  a  very  bad  one,  Julia?  " 

'*  No.  Not  if  one  could  insure  the  same  frame  of  mind 
in  which  first  he  tasted  the  enjoyment.  I,  for  instance,  like 
what  is  called  the  world  very  much.  I  like  society,  life,  and 
gayety.  I  like  the  attentions,  I  like  the  flatteries  one  meets 
with,  but  if  I  could  be  always  as  happy,  always  as  tranquil 
as  we  have  felt  since  we  came  here,  I  'd  be  quite  willing  to 
sign  a  bond  to  live  and  die  here." 

"  So  that  you  mean  our  present  enjoyment  of  the  place 
could  not  last." 

"  I  am  sure  it  could  not.  I  am  sure  a  great  deal  of  the 
pleasure  we  now  feel  is  in  the  relief  of  escaping  from  the 
turmoil  and  bustle  of  a  world  that  we  don't  belong  to.  The 
first  sense  of  this  relief  is  repose,  the  next  would  be  ennui." 

'*  I  don't  agree  with  you,  Julia.  There  is  a  calm  accept- 
ance of  a  humble  lot  in  life,  quite  apart  from  ennui." 

'^  Don't  believe  it.  There  is  no  such  philosophy.  A  great 
part  of  your  happiness  here  is  in  fact  that  you  can  afford  to 
live  here.  Oh,  hold  up  your  hands,  and  be  horrified.  It  is 
very  shocking  to  have  a  sister  who  will  say  such  vulgar 
things,  but  I  watched  you,  George,  after  you  paid  the  bill 
this  morning,  and  I  marked  the  delighted  smile  in  which 
you  pointed  out  some  effect  of  light  on  the  '  Sentis,'  and  I 
said  to  myself,  '  It  is  the  landlord  has  touched  up  the 
landscape.' " 

"  1  declare,  Julia,  you  make  me  angry.  Why  will  you 
say  such  things? " 

"  Why  are  we  so  poor,  George?  Tell  me  that,  brother 
mine.     Why  are  we  so  poor?  " 

"There  are  hundreds  as  poor;  thousands  poorer." 

''  Perhaps  they  don't  care,  don't  fret  about  it,  don't  dwell 
on  all  the  things  they  are  debarred  from,  don't  want  this  or 
17 


258  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOFS   FOLLY. 

that  appliance  to  make  life  easier.  Now  look  there !  what  a 
difference  in  one's  existence  to  travel  that  way." 

As  she  spoke,  she  pointed  to  a  travelling-carriage  which 
swept  over  the  bridge,  with  all  the  speed  of  four  posters,  and, 
with  all  the  clatter  of  cracking  whips  and  sounding  horns, 
made  for  the  inn  of  the  village. 

"How  few  travel  with  post  now,  in  these  days  of  rail- 
road," said  he,  not  sorry  to  turn  the  conversation  into 
another  channel. 

"  I  hope  they  are  going  on.  I  trust  they  '11  not  stop  here. 
We  have  been  the  great  folk  of  the  place  up  to  this,  but 
you  '11  see  how  completely  the  courier  or  the  fenime  de 
chamhre  will  eclipse  us  now,"  said  she,  rising.  "  Let  us 
go  back,  or  perhaps  they  '11  give  our  very  rooms  away." 

"  How  can  you  be  so  silly,  Julia?  " 

"  All  because  we  are  poor,  George.  Let  me  be  rich,  and 
you  '11  be  surprised,  not  only  how  generous  I  shall  be,  but 
how  disposed  to  think  well  of  every  one.  Poverty  is  the 
very  mother  of  distrust." 

"I  never  heard  you  rail  at  our  narrow  fortune  like  this 
before." 

"  Don't  be  angry  with  me,  dear  George,  and  I'll  make  a 
confession  to  you.  I  was  not  thinking  of  ourselves,  nor  of 
our  humble  lot  all  this  while ;  it  was  a  letter  I  got  this  morn- 
ing from  Nelly  Bramleigh  was  running  in  my  mnid.  It  has 
never  been  out  of  my  thoughts  since  I  received  it." 

"  You  never  told  me  of  this." 

"  No.  She  begged  of  me  not  to  speak  of  it ;  and  I  meant 
to  have  obeyed  her,  but  my  temper  has  betrayed  me.  What 
Nelly  said  was,  '  Don't  tell  your  brother  about  these  things 
till  he  can  hear  the  whole  story,  which  Augustus  will  write 
to  him  as  soon  as  he  is  able.*  " 

"  What  does  she  allude  to?  " 

"  They  are  ruined  —  actually  ruined." 

"  The  Bramleighs  — the  rich  Bramleighs?  " 

"Just  so.  They  were  worth  millions  —  at  least  they 
thought  so  —  a  few  weeks  back,  and  now  they  have  next  to 
nothing." 

"This  has  come  of  over  speculation." 

"  No.     Nothing   of   the   kind.     It   is  a  claimant   to  the 


ON  THE   KOAD.  259 

estate  has  arisen,  an  heir  whose  rights  take  precedence  of 
their  father's ;  in  fact,  the  grandfather  had  been  privately 
married  early  in  life,  and  had  a  son  of  whom  nothing  was 
heard  for  years,  but  who  married  and  left  a  boy,  who,  on 
attaining  manhood,  preferred  his  claim  to  the  property.  All 
this  mysterious  claim  was  well  known  to  Colonel  Bramleigh ; 
indeed,  it  would  appear  that  for  years  he  was  engaged  in 
negotiations  with  this  man's  lawyers,  sometimes  defiantly 
challenging  an  appeal  to  the  law,  and  sometimes  entertain- 
ing projects  of  compromise.  The  correspondence  was  very 
lengthy,  and,  from  its  nature,  must  have  weighed  heavily  on 
the  Colonel's  mind  and  spirits,  and  ended,  as  Nelly  suspects, 
by  breaking  up  his  health. 

"  It  was  almost  the  very  first  news  that  met  Augustus  on 
his  accession  to  his  fortune,  and  so  stunned  was  he  that  he 
wrote  to  Mr.  Sedley  to  say,  '  I  have  such  perfect  reliance 
on  both  your  integrity  and  ability,  that  if  you  assure  me 
this  claim  is  well  founded  and  this  demand  a  just  one,  I 
will  not  contest  it.'  He  added  —  ^  I  am  not  afraid  of  poverty, 
but  a  public  shame  and  a  scandal  would  be  my  death.' " 

"  Just  what  I  should  expect  from  him.  What  did  Sedley 
say?" 

''  He  did  n't  say  he  was  exactly  a  fool,  but  something 
very  like  it;  and  he  told  him,  too,  that  though  he  might 
make  very  light  of  his  own  rights,  he  could  not  presume  to 
barter  away  those  of  others ;  and,  last  of  all,  he  added,  what 
he  knew  would  have  its  weight  with  Augustus,  that,  had  his 
father  lived  he  meant  to  have  compromised  this  claim.  Not 
that  he  regarded  it  either  as  well  founded  or  formidable, 
but  simply  as  a  means  of  avoiding  a  very  unpleasant  pub- 
licity. This  last  intimation  had  its  effect,  and  Augustus 
permitted  Sedley  to  treat.  Sedley  at  once  addressed  him- 
self to  Temple  —  Jack  was  not  to  be  found  —  and  to  Lord 
Culduff,  to  learn  what  share  they  were  disposed  to  take  in 
such  an  arrangement.  As  Augustus  offered  to  bind  himself 
never  to  marry,  and  to  make  a  will  dividing  the  estate 
equally  amongst  his  brothers  and  sisters,  Lord  Culduff  and 
Temple  quite  approved  of  this  determination,  but  held  that 
they  were  not  called  upon  to  take  any  portion  of  the  burden 
of  the  compromise. 


260  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

"  Augustus  would  seem  to  have  been  so  indignant  at  this 
conduct,  that  he  wrote  to  Sedley  to  put  him  at  once  in 
direct  communication  with  the  claimant.  Sedley  saw  by  the 
terms  of  the  letter  how  much  of  it  was  dictated  by  passion 
and  offended  pride,  evaded  the  demand,  and  pretended  that 
an  arrangement  was  actually  pending,  and,  if  uninterfered 
with,  sure  to  be  completed.  To  this  Augustus  replied  —  for 
Nelly  has  sent  me  a  copy  of  his  very  words  —  'Be  it  so. 
Make  such  a  settlement  as  you,  in  your  capacity  of  my 
lawyer,  deem  best  for  my  interests.  For  my  own  part,  I 
will  not  live  in  a  house,  nor  receive  the  rents  of  an  estate, 
my  rights  to  which  the  law  may  possibly  decide  against  me. 
Till,  then,  the  matter  be  determined  either  way,  I  and  my 
sister  Eleanor,  who  is  like-minded  with  me  in  this  affair, 
will  go  where  we  can  live  at  least  cost,  decided,  as  soon  as 
may  be,  to  have  this  issue  determined,  and  Castello  become 
the  possession  of  him  who  rightfully  owns  it.' 

"  On  the  evening  of  the  day  he  wrote  this  they  left  Cas- 
tello. They  only  stopped  a  night  in  Dublin,  and  left  next 
morning  for  the  Continent.  Nelly's  letter  is  dated  from 
Ostend.  She  says  she  does  not  know  where  they  are  going, 
and  is  averse  to  anything  like  importuning  her  brother  by 
even  a  question.  She  promises  to  write  soon  again,  how- 
ever, and  tell  me  all  about  their  plans.  They  are  travelling 
without  a  servant,  and,  so  far  as  she  knows,  with  very  little 
money.  Poor  Nelly!  she  bears  up  nobly,  but  the  terrible 
reverse  of  condition,  and  the  privations  she  is  hourly  con- 
fronted with,  are  clearly  preying  upon  her." 

"  What  a  change !  Just  to  think  of  them  a  few  months 
back !     It  was  a  princely  household." 

"  Just  what  Nelly  says.  '  It  is  complete  overthrow ;  and 
if  I  am  not  stunned  by  the  reverse,  it  is  because  all  my  sym- 
pathies are  engaged  for  poor  Gusty,  who  is  doing  his  best  to 
bear  up  well.  As  for  myself,  I  neyer  knew  how  helpless  I 
was  till  I  tried  to  pack  my  trunk.  I  suppose  time  will  soften 
down  many  things  that  are  now  somewhat  hard  to  bear ;  but 
for  the  moment  I  am  impatient  and  irritable ;  and  it  is  only 
the  sight  of  my  dear  brother  —  so  calm,  so  manly,  and  so 
dignified  in  his  sorrow  —  that  obliges  me  to  forget  my  selfish 
grief  and  compose  myself  as  I  ought.' " 


ON  THE   KOAD.  261 

As  they  thus  talked,  they  arrived  at  the  door  of  the  inn, 
where  the  landlord  met  them,  with  the  request  that  the  two 
gentlemen  who  had  arrived  by  extra-post,  and  who  could 
not  find  horses  to  proceed  on  their  journey,  might  be  per- 
mitted to  share  the  one  sitting-room  the  house  contained,  and 
which  was  at  present  occupied  by  the  L'Estranges. 

''Let  us  sup  in  your  room,  George,"  whispered  Julia,  and 
passed  on  into  the  house.  L'Estrange  gave  orders  to  send 
the  supper  to  his  room,  and  told  the  landlord  that  the  salon 
was  at  his  guests'  disposal. 

About  two  hours  later,  as^the  curate  and  his  sister  sat  at 
the  open  window,  silently  enjoying  the  delicious  softness  of 
a  starry  night,  they  were  startled  by  the  loud  talking  of  per- 
sons so  near  as  to  seem  almost  in  the  room  with  them. 

"English  —  I'll  be  sworn  they  are!  "  said  one.  "  That 
instinctive  dread  of  a  stranger  pertains  only  to  our  people. 
How  could  it  have  interfered  with  their  comfort,  that  we  sat 
and  ate  our  meal  in  this  corner  ?  " 

"  The  landlord  says  they  are  young,  and  the  woman  pretty. 
That  may  explain  something.  Your  countrymen,  Philip,  are 
the  most  jealous  race  in  Europe." 

L'Estrange  coughed  here  three  or  four  times,  to  apprise 
his  neighbors  that  they  were  within  earshot  of  others. 

"  Listen  to  that  cough,"  cried  the  first  speaker.  ''  That 
was  palpably  feigned.  It  was  meant  to  say,  '  Don't  talk  so 
loud.' " 

/'I  always  grow  more  indiscreet  under  such  provocation," 
said  the  other,  whose  words  were  slightly  tinged  with  a 
foreign  accent. 

A  merry  laugh  burst  from  Julia  at  this  speech,  which  the 
others  joined  in  by  very  impulse. 

''I  suspect,"  said  the  first  speaker,  "we  might  as  well 
have  occupied  the  same  room,  seeing  in  what  close  proximit}^ 
we  stand  to  each  other." 

"  I  think  it  would  be  as  well  to  go  to  your  room,  Julia," 
said  George,  in  a  low  voice.     "  It  is  getting  late,  besides." 

"  I  believe  you  are  right,  George.     I  will  say  good-night." 

The  last  words  appeared  to  have  caught  the  ears  of  the 
strangers,  who  exclaimed  together,  "Good-night,  good- 
night; "  and  he  with  the  foreign  accent  began  to  hum,  in  a 


262  THE  BKAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

very  sweet  tenor  voice,  "  Buona  sera,  buona  notte,  buona 
sera ;  "  which  Julia  would  fain  have  listened  to,  but  George 
hurried  her  away,  and  closed  the  door. 

"  There  is  the  end  of  that  episode,"  said  the  foreign  voice. 
*'  Le  mari  jaloux  has  had  enough  of  us.  Your  women  in 
England  are  taught  never  to  play  with  fire." 

"  I  might  reply  that  yours  are  all  pyrotechnists,"  said  the 
other,  wdth  a  laugh. 

The  clatter  of  plates  and  the  jingle  of  glasses,  as  the 
waiter  laid  the  table  for  supper,  drowned  their  voices,  and 
L'Estrange  dropped  off  asleep  soon  after.  A  hearty  burst 
of  laughter  at  last  aroused  him.  It  came  from  the  adjoining 
room,  where  the  strangers  were  still  at  table,  though  it  was 
now  nigh  daybreak. 

"  Yes,"  said  he  of  the  foreign  accent,  "  I  must  confess  it. 
I  never  made  a  lucky  hit  in  my  life  without  the  ungrateful 
thought  of  how  much  luckier  it  might  have  been." 

''  It  is  your  Italian  blood  has  given  you  that  temperament." 

"I  knew  you  'd  say  so,  Philip  ;  before  my  speech  was  well 
out,  I  felt  the  reply  you'd  make  me.  But  let  me  tell  you 
that  you  English  are  not  a  whit  more  thankful  to  fortune 
than  we  are;  but  in  your  matter-of-fact  way  you  accept  a 
benefit  as  your  just  due,  while  we,  more  conscious  of  our 
deservings,  always  feel  that  no  recompense  fully  equalled 
what  we  merited.  And  so  it  is  that  ever  since  that  morning 
at  Furnival's  Inn,  I  keep  on  asking  myself.  Why  twenty 
thousand?     Why  not  forty  —  why  not  twice  forty?" 

"  I  was  quite  prepared  for  all  this.  I  think  I  saw  the 
reaction  beginning  as  you  signed  the  paper." 

"  No,  there  you  wrong  me,  Philip.  I  wrote  boldly,  like  a 
man  who  felt  that  he  was  making  a  great  resolve,  and  could 
stand  by  it.  You  'd  never  guess  when  what  you  have  called 
'  the  reaction '  set  in." 

"  I  am  curious  to  know  when  that  was." 

''  I  '11  tell  you.  You  remember  our  visit  to  Castello.  You 
thought  it  a  strange  caprice  of  mine  to  ask  the  lawyer 
whether,  now  that  all  was  finally  settled  between  us,  I  might 
be  permitted  to  see  the  house  —  w^hich,  as  the  family  had 
left,  could  be  done  without  any  unpleasantness.  I  believe  my 
request  amused  him  as  much  as  it  did  you;  he  thought  it  a 


ON  THE  ROAD.  263 

strange  caprice,  but  he  saw  no  reason  to  refuse  it,  and  I  saw 
he  smiled  as  he  sat  down  to  write  the  note  to  the  house- 
keeper. I  have  no  doubt  that  he  thought,  '  It  is  a  gambler's 
whim ;  he  wants  to  see  the  stake  he  played  for,  and  what  he 
might  perhaps  have  won  had  he  had  courage  to  play  out  the 
o-ame.'      You  certainly  took  that  view  of  it." 

The  other  muttered  something  like  a  half  assent,  and  the 
former  speaker  continued,  "And  you  were  both  of  you 
wrong.  I  wanted  to  see  the  finished  picture  of  which  I 
possessed  the  sketch  —  the  beautiful  Flora  —  whose  original 
was  my  grandmother.  I  cannot  tell  you  the  intense  longing 
I  had  to  see  the  features  that  pertained  to  one  who  belonged 
to  me ;  a  man  must  be  as  utterly  desolate  as  I  am,  to  com- 
prehend the  craving  I  felt  to  have  something  —  anything 
that  might  stand  to  me  in  place  of  family.  It  was  this  led 
me  to  Castello,  and  it  was  this  that  made  me,  when  I  crossed 
the  threshold,  indifferent  to  all  the  splendors  of  the  place, 
and  only  occupied  with  one  thought,  one  wish  —  to  see  the 
fresco  in  the  Octagon  Tower  —  poor  old  Giacomo's  great 
^ork  —  the  picture  of  his  beautiful  daughter.  And  was  she 
not  beautiful?  I  ask  you,  Philip,  had  Raphael  himself 
ever  such  a  model  for  sweetness  of  expression?  Come, 
come.  You  were  just  as  wild  as  myself  in  your  enthusiasm 
as  you  stood  before  her ;  and  it  was  only  by  a  silly  jest  that 
you  could  repress  the  agitation  you  were  so  ashamed  of." 

"I  remember  I  told  you  that  the  family  had  terribly 
degenerated  since  her  day." 

"  And  yet  you  tried  to  trace  a  likeness  between  us." 

"  You  won't  say  that  I  succeeded,"  said  he,  with  a  laugh. 

"  It  was  then  as  I  stood  there  gazing  on  her,  thinking  of 
her  sad  story,  that  I  bethought  me  what  an  ignoble  part  it 
was  I  played  to  compromise  the  rights  that  she  had  won, 
and  how  unworthy  I  was  to  be  the  descendant  of  the  beauti- 
ful Enrichetta." 

"  You  are  about  the  only  man  I  ever  met  who  was  in  love 
with  his  grandmother." 

"  Call  it  how  you  like,  her  lovely  face  has  never  left  me 
since  I  saw  it  there." 

"  And  yet  your  regret  implies  that  you  are  only  sorry  not 
to  have  made  a  better  bargrain." 


264  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  No,  Philip :  my  regret  is  not  to  have  stood  out  for  terms 
that  must  have  been  refused  to  me ;  I  wish  I  had  asked 
for  the  '  impossible.'  I  tried  to  make  a  laughing  matter 
of  it  when  I  began,  but  I  cannot  —  I  cannot.  I  have  got 
the  feeling  that  I  have  been  selling  my  birthright." 

"  And  you  regret  that  the  mess  of  pottage  has  not  been 
bigger." 

' '  There 's  the  impossibility  in  making  a  friend  of  an 
Englishman !  It  is  the  sordid  side  of  everything  he  will 
insist  on  turning  uppermost.  Had  I  told  a  Frenchman  what 
I  have  told  you,  he  would  have  lent  me  his  whole  heart  in 
sympathy." 

''To  be  sure  he  would.  He  would  have  accepted  all  that 
stupid  sentimentality  about  j^our  grandmother  as  refined 
feeling,  and  you  'd  have  been  blubbering  over  each  other 
this  half -hour." 

"  If  you  only  knew  the  sublime  project  I  had.  I  dare  not 
tell  you  of  it  in  your  miserable  spirit  of  depreciating  all  that 
is  high  in  feeling  and  noble  in  aspiration.  You  would  ridi- 
cule it.  Yes,  mon  cher^  you  would  have  seen  nothing  in  my 
plan,  save  what  you  could  turn  into  absurdity." 

' '  Let  me  hear  it.  I  promise  you  to  receive  the  informa- 
tion with  the  most  distinguished  consideration." 

' '  Y^ou  could  not.  You  could  not  elevate  your  mind  even 
to  comprehend  my  motives.  What  would  you  have  said, 
if  I  had  gone  to  this  Mr.  Bramleigh,  and  said.  Cousin  —  " 

"  He  is  not  your  cousin,  to  begin  with." 

"No  matter;  one  calls  every  undefined  relation  cousin. 
Cousin,  I  would  have  said,  this  house  that  you  live  in,  these 
horses  that  you  drive,  this  plate  that  you  dine  off,  these 
spreading  lawns  and  shady  woods  that  lie  around,  are 
mine;  I  am  their  lawful  owner;  I  am  the  true  heir  to 
them ;  and  you  are  nothing  —  nobody  —  the  son  of  an 
illegitimate  —  " 

"  I  'd  say  he  'd  have  pitched  you  out  of  the  window." 

"Wait   a   while;    not   so  fast.      Nevertheless,    I   would 

>liave  said.  Yours  is  the  prescription  and  the  habit.     These 

things  have  pertained  to  you   since  your   birth:    they   are 

part  of  you,   and  you  of  them.     Y^ou  cannot  live  without 

them,  because  you  know  no  other  life  than  where  they  enter 


ON  THE   ROAD.  265 

and  mingle ;  while  I,  poor  and  an  adventurer,  have  never 
tasted  luxury,  nor  had  any  experiences  but  of  trouble  and 
difficulty.  Let  us  each  keep  the  station  to  which  habit  and 
time  have  accustomed  him.  Do  you  live,  as  you  have  ever 
lived,  grand  seigneur  as  you  are  —  rich,  honored,  and  re- 
garded. I  will  never  dispute  your  possession  nor  assail 
your  right.  I  only  ask  that  you  accept  me  as  your  relation 
—  a  cousin,  who  has  been  long  absent  in  remote  lands ;  a 
traveller,  an  '  eccentric,'  who  likes  a  life  of  savagery  and 
adventure,  and  who  has  come  back,  after  years  of  exile, 
to  see  his  family  and  be  with  his  own.  Imagine  yourself 
for  an  instant  to  be  Bramleigh,  and  what  you  would  have 
said  to  this?  Had  I  simply  asked  to  be  one  of  them,  to 
call  them  by  their  Christian  names,  to  be  presented  to  their 
friends  as  Cousin  Anatole  —  I  ask  you  now  —  seriously,  what 
you  would  have  replied  to  such  a  noble  appeal?  " 

"I  don't  know  exactly  what  I  should  have  said,  but  I 
think  I  can  tell  you  what  I  would  have  done." 

"  Well,  out  with  it." 

"I'd  have  sent  for  the  police,  and  handed  you  over  to 
the  authorities  for  either  a  rogue  or  a  madman." 

"Bon  soir.  I  wish  you  a  good-night  —  pleasant  dreams, 
too,  if  that  be  possible." 

"Don't  go.  Sit  down.  The  dawn  is  just  breaking,  and 
you  know  I  ordered  the  horses  for  the  first  light." 

"I  must  go  into  the  air  then.  I  must  go  where  I  can 
breathe." 

"  Take  a  cigar,  and  let  us  talk  of  something  else." 

"That  is  easy  enough  for  you;  you  who  treat  everything 
as  a  mere  passing  incident,  and  would  make  life  a  series  of 
unconnected  episodes.  You  turn  from  this  to  that,  just  as 
you  taste  of  this  dish  and  that  at  dinner ;  but  I,  who  want 
to  live  a  life  —  entends-tu  f  —  to  live  a  life  :  to  be  to-morrow 
the  successor  of  myself  to-day,  to  carry  with  me  an  identity 
—  how  am  I  to  practise  your  philosophy  ?  " 

"Here  come  the  horses;  and  I  must  say  I  am  for  once 
grateful  to  their  jingling  bells,  helping  as  they  do  to  drow^ 
more  nonsense  than  even  you  usually  give  way  to." 

"How  did  we  ever  become  friends?  Can  you  explain 
that  to  me?" 


266  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

' '  I  suppose  it  must  have  been  in  one  of  your  lucid  mo- 
ments, Anatole  —  for  you  have  them  at  times." 

"  Ah,  I  have !  But  if  you  're  getting  complimentary,  I  'd 
better  be  off.  Will  you  look  to  the  bill?  And  I'll  take 
charge  of  the  baggage." 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

ON    THE    ROAD    TO    ITALY. 

*' You'd  not  guess  who  our  neighbors  of  last  night  were, 
Julia,"  said  L'Estrange,  as  they  sat  at  breakfast  the  next 
morning. 

''I  need  not  guess,  for  I  know,"  said  she,  laughing. 
''  The  fact  is,  George,  my  curiosity  was  so  excited  to  see 
them  that  I  got  up  as  they  were  about  to  start,  and  though 
the  gray  morning  was  only  breaking  at  the  time,  there  was 
light  enough  for  me  to  recognize  Mr.  Longworth  and  his 
French  friend,   Count  Pracontal." 

"  I  know  that;  but  I  know  more  than  that,  Julia.  What 
do  you  think  of  my  discovery,  when  I  tell  you  that  this  same 
Count  Pracontal  is  the  claimant  of  the  Bramleigh  estate?  " 

"Is  it  possible?  " 

"It  is  beyond  a  question  or  a  doubt.  I  was  awakened 
from  my  sleep  last  night  by  their  loud  talking,  and  unwit- 
tingly made  a  listener  to  all  they  said.  I  heard  the  French- 
man deplore  how  he  had  ever  consented  to  a  compromise  of 
his  claim,  and  then  Longworth  quizzed  him  a  good  deal,  and 
attributed  the  regret  to  his  not  having  made  a  harder  bar- 
gain. My  own  conviction  is  that  the  man  really  felt  it  as  a 
point  of  honor,  and  was  ashamed  at  having  stooped  to 
accept  less  than  his  right." 

^'  So  then  they  have  made  a  compromise,  and  the  Bram- 
leighs  are  safe?"    cried  she,  eagerly. 

"That  much  seems  certain.  The  Count  even  spoke  of 
the  sum  he  had  received.  I  did  not  pay  much  attention  to 
the  amount,  but  I  remember  it  struck  me  as  being  consid- 
erable;  and  he  also  referred  to  his  having  signed  some 
document  debarring  him,  as  it  seemed,  from  all  renewal  of 
his  demand.     In  a  word,  as  you  said  just  now,  the  Bram- 


268  THE  BKAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

leighs  are  safe,   and  the  storm  that  threatened  their   fate 
has  passed  off  harmlessly." 

"Oh,  you  have  made  me  so  happy,  George.  I  cannot 
tell  you  what  joy  this  news  is  to  me.  Poor  Nelly,  in  all  her 
sorrow  and  privation,  has  never  been  out  of  my  thoughts 
since  I  read  her  letter." 

"  I  have  not  told  you  the  strangest  part  of  all —  at  least, 
60  it  certainly  seemed  to  me.  This  Count  Pracontal  actually 
regretted  the  compromise,  as  depriving  him  of  a  noble  oppor- 
tunity of  self-sacrifice.  He  wished,  he  said,  he  could  have 
gone  to  Augustus  Bramleigh,  and  declared,  '  I  want  none  of 
this  wealth.  These  luxuries  and  this  station  are  all  essential 
to  you,  who  have  been  born  to  them,  and  regard  them  as 
part  of  your  very  existence.  To  me  they  are  no  wants  —  I 
never  knew  them.  Keep  them,  therefore,  as  your  own.  All 
I  ask  is,  that  you  regard  me  as  one  of  your  kindred  and 
your  family.  Call  me  cousin  —  let  me  be  one  of  you  —  to 
come  here,  under  your  roof,  when  fortune  goes  ill  with  me.' 
When  he  was  saying  this,  Long  worth  burst  out  into  a  coarse 
laugh,  and  told  him,  that  if  he  talked  such  rotten  sentimen- 
tality to  any  sane  Englishman,  the  only  impression  it  would 
have  left  would  be  that  he  was  a  consummate  knave  or  an 
idiot." 

"  Well,  George,"  asked  she,  seriously,  "  that  was  not  the 
conviction  it  conveyed  to  your  mind? " 

"No,  Julia;  certainly  not ;  but  somehow  —  perhaps  it  is 
my  colder  northern  blood,  perhaps  it  is  the  cautious  reserve 
of  one  who  has  not  had  enough  experience  of  life  —  but  I 
own  to  you  I  distrust  very  high-flown  declarations,  and  as  a 
rule  I  like  the  men  who  do  generous  things,  and  don't  think 
themselves  heroes  for  doing  them." 

"  Remember,  George,  it  was  a  Frenchman  who  spoke 
thus ;  and  from  what  I  have  seen  of  his  nation,  I  would  say 
that  he  meant  all  that  he  said.  These  people  do  the  very 
finest  things  out  of  an  exalted  self-esteem.  They  carry  the 
point  of  honor  so  high  that  there  is  no  sacrifice  they  are  not 
capable  of  making,  if  it  only  serve  to  elevate  their  opinion 
of  themselves.  Their  theory  is,  they  belong  to  the  '  great 
nation,'  and  the  motives  that  would  do  well  enough  for  you 
or  me  would  be  very  ignoble  springs  of  action  to  him  whom 


ON  THE   ROAD  TO   ITALY.  269 

Providence  had  blessed  with  the  higher  destiny  of  being  born 
a  Frenchman." 

"  You  disparage  while  you  praise  them,  Julia." 

"  I  do  not  mean  it,  then.  I  would  simply  say,  I  believe 
in  all  Count  Pracontal  said,  and  I  give  you  my  reason  for 
the  belief." 

"How  happy  it  would  have  made  poor  Augustus  to  have 
been  met  in  this  spirit!  Why  don't  these  two  men  know 
each  other  ?  " 

*'  My  dear  George,  the  story  of  life  could  no  more  go  on 
than  the  story  of  a  novel  if  there  was  no  imbroglio.  Take 
away  from  the  daily  course  of  events  all  misunderstandings, 
all  sorrows,  and  all  misconceptions,  and  there  would  be  no 
call  on  humanity  for  acts  of  energy,  or  trustfulness,  or 
devotion.  We  want  all  these  things  just  that  we  may 
surmount  them." 

Whether  he  did  not  fully  concur  with  the  theory,  or  that 
it  puzzled  him,  L'Estrange  made  no  reply,  and  soon  after 
left  the  room  to  prepare  for  their  departure.  And  now 
they  went  the  road  up  the  valley  of  the  Upper  Rhine  —  that 
wild  and  beautiful  tract,  so  grand  in  outline  and  so  rich  in 
color,  that  other  landscapes  seem  cold  after  it.  They  wound 
along  the  Via  Mala,  and  crossed  over  the  Splugen,  most  pic- 
turesque of  Alpine  passes,  and  at  last  reached  Chiavenna. 

"  All  this  is  very  enjoyable,  George,"  said  Julia,  as  they 
strolled  carelessly  in  a  trellised  vine- walk ;  "but  as  I  am 
the  courier,  and  carry  the  money-sack,  it  is  my  painful  duty 
to  say,  we  can't  do  it  much  longer.  Do  you  know  how  much 
remains  in  that  little  bag  ?  " 

"  A  couple  of  hundred  francs  perhaps,"  said  he,  listlessly. 

"Not  half  that  —  how  could  there,  you  careless  creature? 
You  forget  all  the  extravagances  we  have  been  committing, 
and  this  entire  week  of  unheard-of  indulgence." 

"I  was  always  'had  up'  for  my  arithmetic  at  school. 
Old  Hoskins  used  to  say  my  figures  would  be  the  ruin  of 
me." 

The  tone  of  honest  sorrow  in  which  he  said  this  threw 
Julia  into  a  fit  of  laughing. 

"  Here  is  the  total  of  our  worldly  wealth,"  said  she, 
emptying  on  a  rustic  table  the  leather  bag,  and  running  her 


270  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

fingers  through  a  mass  of  silver  in  which  a  few  gold  coins 
glittered. 

"  It  seems  very  little,  Julia,"  said  he,  despondingly. 

''  "Worse  than  that.  It  is  less  than  it  looks,  George ; 
these  tarnished  pieces,  with  a  mock  au*  of  silver,  are  of 
most  ignoble  origin;  they  were  born  copper,  and  are  only 
silver  by  courtesy.     Let  me  see  what  it  all  makes." 

While  she  was  arranging  the  money  in  little  piles  on  the 
table  L'Estrange  lighted  a  cigarette,  and  puffed  it  in  leis- 
urely fashion. 

"  Julia,"  said  he,  at  last,  "  I  hope  I  haven't  committed 
a  dreadful  folly  in  that  investment  of  your  two  thousand. 
You  know  I  took  the  shares  I  told  you  of?" 

"I  remember,  George,  you  said  so;  but  has  anything 
occurred  to  make  you  augur  ill  of  the  enterprise?" 

"  No;  I  know  no  more  of  it  now  than  on  the  first  day 
I  heard  of  it.  I  was  dazzled  by  the  splendid  promise  of 
twenty  per  cent  instead  of  three  that  you  had  received 
heretofore.  It  seemed  to  me  to  be  such  a  paltry  fear  to 
hesitate  about  doing  what  scores  of  others  were  venturing. 
I  felt  as  if  I  were  turning  away  from  a  big  fence  while  half 
the  field  were  ready  to  ride  at  it.  In  fact,  I  made  it  a  ques- 
tion of  courage,  Julia,  which  was  all  the  more  inexcusable 
as  the  money  I  was  risking  was  not  my  own." 

"  Oh,  George,  you  must  not  say  that  to  me." 

"Well,  weifl,  I  know  what  I  think  of  myself,  and  I 
promise  you  it  is  not  the  more  favorable  because  of  your 
generosity." 

"My  dear  George,  that  is  a  word  that  ought  never  to 
occur  between  us.  Our  interests  are  inseparable.  When 
you  have  done  what  you  believed  was  the  best  for  me  there 
is  no  question  of  anything  more.  There,  now,  don't  worry 
yourself  further  about  it.  Attend  to  what  I  have  to  say  to 
you  here.  We  have  just  one  hundred  and  twelve  francs  to 
carry  us  to  Milan,  where  our  letter  of  credit  will  meet  us ; 
so  that  there  must  be  no  more  boat  excursions;  no  little 
picnics,  with  a  dainty  basket  sent  up  the  mountain  at  sun- 
rise;  none  of  that  charming  liberality  which  lights  up  the 
road  with  pleasant  faces,  and  sets  one  a-thinking  how  happy 
Dives  might  have  been  if   he  had  given  something  better 


-C,  '»^- 


i^T^^i^e^^-^  c>^yf^  .-^!^^^c/^  ^o^^^^.  ^^^<^ ^le 


OF  THE 

Ui\ilVERSlTY 

CF 


ON  THE   ROAD  TO   ITALY.  271 

than  crumbs  to  Lazarus.  No,  this  must  be  what  you  used 
to  call  a  week  of  cold-mutton  days,  mind  that,  and  resist  all 
temptation  to  money-spending." 

L'Estrange  bowed  his  head  in  quiet  acquiescence ;  his 
was  the  sad  thought  that  so  many  of  us  have  felt ;  how 
much  of  enjoyment  life  shows  us,  just  one  hau-'s  breadth 
beyond  our  power  to  grasp ;  vistas  of  lovely  scenery  that 
we  are  never  to  visit ;  glimpses  of  bliss  closed  to  us  even  as 
we  catch  them ;  strains  of  delicious  music  of  which  all  our 
efforts  can  but  retain  the  dying  cadences.  Not  that  he 
felt  all  these  in  any  bitterness  of  spirit ;  even  in  narrowed 
fortune  life  was  very  pleasant  to  him,  and  he  was  thoroughly, 
heartily  grateful  for  the  path  fate  had  assigned  him  to 
walk  in. 

How  would  they  have  liked  to  have  lingered  in  the 
Brianza,  that  one  lovely  bit  of  thoroughly  rural  Italy,  with 
the  green  of  the  west  blending  through  all  the  gorgeous 
glow  of  tropical  vegetation ;  how  gladly  they  would  have 
loitered  on  the  lake  at  Como  —  the  brightest  spot  of  land- 
scape in  Europe ;  with  what  enjoyment  had  they  halted  at 
Milan,  and  still  more  in  Florence !  Stern  necessity,  how- 
ever, whispered  ever  onwards ;  and  all  the  seductions  of 
Raffaels  and  Titians  yielded  before  the  hard  demands  of 
that  fate  that  draws  the  purse-strings.  Even  at  Rome 
they  did  not  venture  to  delay,  consoling  themselves  with 
the  thought  that  they  were  to  dwell  so  near,  they  could 
visit  it  at  will.  At  last  they  reached  Albano,  and  as  they 
drove  into  the  village  caught  sight  of  a  most  picturesque 
little  cottage,  enshrined  in  a  copse  of  vines.  It  was  ap- 
parently untenanted,  and  they  eagerly  asked  if  it  were  to 
be  let.  The  answer  was.  No,  it  was  waiting  for  the  *'  Prete 
Inglese,"  who  was  daily  expected  to  arrive.  , 

"  Oh,  George,  it  is  ours,"  cried  Julia,  in  ecstasy,  and  hid 
her  head  on  his  shoulder,  and  actually  cried  with  excess  of 
deliofht. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

THE    CHURCH    PATRONS    AT    ALBANO. 

The  patrons  of  the  English  chapel  at  Albano  were  the  three 
great  leaders  of  society  in  Rome  in  winter,  and  at  Albano 
during  the  summer.  Of  these  the  first  was  Lady  Augusta 
Bramleigh;  next  came  Sir  Marcus  Cluff;  and  last  —  not 
indeed,  either  in  activity  or  zeal  —  was  Mrs.  Trumpler,  a 
widow  lady  of  considerable  fortune,  and  no  small  share  of 
energy  in  her  nature. 

To  these  George  L'Estrange  had  brought  formal  letters  of 
introduction,  which  he  was  cautiousl}^  enjoined  should  be 
presented  in  the  order  of  their  respective  ranks  —  making  his 
first  approaches  to  the  Lady  Augusta.  To  his  request  to 
know  at  what  hour  he  might  have  the  honor  to  wait  on  her 
Ladyship,  came  a  few  lines  on  the  back  of  his  own  card, 
saying,  "  Two  o'clock,  and  be  punctual."  There  did  not 
seem  to  be  any  unnecessary  courtesy  in  this  curt  intimation ; 
but  he  dressed  himself  carefully  for  the  interview,  and  with 
his  cravat  properly  arranged  by  Julia,  who  passed  his  whole 
appearance  in  review,  he  set  out  for  the  pretty  Villa  of  the 
Chestnuts,  where  her  Ladyship  lived. 

"I  don't  suppose  that  I'm  about  to  do  anything  very 
unworthy,  Julia,"  said  he,  as  he  bade  her  good-bye ;  "  but  I 
assure  you  I  feel  lower  in  my  own  esteem  this  morning  than 
I  have  known  myself  since  —  since  —  " 

"'  Since  you  tumbled  over  the  sunk  fence,  perhaps,"  said 
she,  laughing,  and  turned  back  into  the  house. 

L'Estrange  soon  found  himself  at  the  gate  of  the  villa, 
and  was  conducted  by  a  servant  in  deep  mourning  through  a 
very  beautiful  garden  to  a  small  kiosk,  or  summerhouse, 
where  a  breakfast-table  was  spread.     He  was  punctual  to 


THE  CHURCH  PATRONS  AT  ALBANO.      273 

the  moment ;  but  as  her  Ladyship  had  not  yet  appeared  he 
had  ample  time  to  admire  the  beauty  of  the  Sevres  cups  of 
a  pale  blue,  and  the  rich  carving  of  the  silver  service  — 
evidently  of  antique  mould,  and  by  a  master  hand.  The  rare 
exotics  which  were  disposed  on  every  side,  amongst  which 
some  birds  of  bright  plumage  were  encaged,  seemed  to  fill 
up  the  measure  of  this  luxurious  spot,  and  impressed  him 
with  —  he  knew  not  what  exalted  idea  of  her  who  should  be 
its  mistress. 

He  waited  at  first  patiently  enough  —  there  was  much  to 
interest  and  amuse  him;  but  at  last,  as  nigh  an  hour  had 
elapsed,  and  she  had  not  appeared,  a  feeling,  half  of  irrita- 
tion at  the  thought  of  neglect,  and  half  doubt  lest  he  should 
have  mistaken  what  the  servant  said,  began  to  worry  and 
distress  him.  A  little  pendule  on  a  bracket  played  a  few 
bars  of  a  waltz,  and  struck  three.  Should  he  wait  any 
longer?  was  the  question  he  put  to  himself.  His  sense  of 
shame  on  leaving  home  at  the  thought  of  presenting  himself 
before  a  patron  came  back  upon  him  now  with  redoubled 
force.  He  had  often  felt  that  the  ministers  who  preached 
for  a  call  were  submitting  themselves  to  a  very  unworthy 
ordeal.  The  being  judged  by  those  they  were  appointed  to 
teach  seemed  in  itself  little  short  of  an  outrage  ;  but  the  part 
he  was  now  playing  was  infinitely  worse;  he  had  actually 
come  to  show  himself,  to  see  if,  when  looked  at  and  talked 
to,  her  Ladyship  would  condescend  to  be  his  patron,  and  as 
it  were  to  impress  the  indignity  more  strongly  upon  him  he 
was  kept  waiting  like  a  lackey ! 

''  I  don't  think  I  ought  to  stoop  to  this,"  muttered  he, 
bitterly,  to  himself  j  ,and  taking  a  card  and  a  pencil  from  his 
pocket,  he  wrote :  "  The  Rev.  George  L'Estrange  has  waited 
from  two  to  three  o'clock  in  the  hope  of  seeing  Lady  Augusta 
Bramleigh;  he  regrets  the  disappointment,  as  well  as  his 
inability  to  prolong  his  attendance."  "  There,"  cried  he, 
aloud,  "  I  hope  that  will  do!  "  and  he  placed  the  card  con- 
spicuously on  the  table. 

"Do  what,  pray?  "  said  a  very  soft  voice,  as  a  slight  figure 
in  deep  mourning  swept  noiselessly  into  the  kiosk,  and  taking 
the  card  up  sat  down  without  reading  it. 

One  glance  showed  that  the  handsome  woman  before  him 

18 


274  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

was  Lady  Augusta,  and  the  bashful  curate  blushed  deeply  at 
the  awkwardness  of  his  position. 

"Mr.  L'Estrange,  I  presume?"  said  she,  waving  her 
hand  to  him  to  be  seated.  "  And  what  is  your  card  to  do; 
not  represent  you,  I  hope,  for  I  'd  rather  see  you  in  person  ?  " 

"  In  my  despair  of  seeing  your  Ladyship  I  wrote  a  line  to 
say  —  to  say  "  —  and  he  blundered  and  stopped  short. 

"  To  say  you  'd  wait  no  longer,"  said  she,  smiling  ;  "  but 
how  touchy  you  must  be.  Don't  you  know  that  women  have 
the  privilege  of  unpunctuality  ?  don't  you  know  it  is  one  of 
the  few  prerogatives  you  men  has^e  spared  them?  Have  you 
breakfasted?  " 

*'  Yes  —  some  hours  ago." 

"  I  forget  whether  I  have  not  also.  I  rather  think  I  did 
take  some  coffee.  I  have  been  very  impatient  for  your 
coming.  Sit  here,  please,"  said  she,  pointing  to  an  arm- 
chair beside  her  own  sofa.  "  I  have  been  very  impatient 
indeed  to  see  you.  I  want  to  hear  all  about  these  poor 
Bramleighs ;  you  lived  beside  them,  did  n't  you,  and  knew 
them  all  intimately?  What  is  this  terrible  story  of  their 
ruin  ?  this  claim  to  their  property  ?  What  does  it  mean  ?  is 
there  really  anything  in  it  ?  " 

"  It  is  somewhat  of  a  long  story,"  began  L'Estrange. 

"  Then  don't  tell  it,  I  entreat  you.  Are  you  married,  Mr. 
L'Estrange?  " 

"No,  madam,  I  have  not  that  happiness,"  said  he,  smil- 
ing at  the  strange  abruptness  of  her  manner. 

"  Oh,  I  am  so  glad,"  she  cried  ;  "so  glad  !  I  'm  not  afraid 
of  a  parson,  but  I  positively  dread  a  parson's  wife.  The  par- 
son has  occasionally  a  little  tolerance  for  a  number  of  things 
he  does  n't  exactly  like  ;  his  wife  never  forgives  them ;  and 
then  a  woman  takes  such  exact  measure  of  another  woman's 
meanings,  and  a  man  knows  nothing  about  them  at  all :  that 
on  the  whole  I  'm  delighted  you  are  single,  and  I  fervently 
trust  you  will  remain  so.  Will  you  promise  me  as  much? 
will  you  give  me  your  word  not  to  marry  till  I  leave  this  ?  " 

"I  need  scarcely  pledge  myself,  madam,  to  that;  my 
narrow  fortune  binds  me,  whether  I  would  or  not." 

"  And  you  have  your  mother  with  you,  have  n't  you?  " 

"  No,  madam;  my  sister  has  accompanied  me." 


THE   CHURCH  PATRONS  AT  ALBANO.  275 

'*  I  wish  it  had  been  your  mother.  I  do  so  like  the  mater- 
nal pride  of  a  dear  old  lady  in  her  fine,  handsome  son.  Is  n't 
she  vain  of  you?  By  the  way,  how  did  your  choice  fall  upon 
the  Church?  You  look  more  like  a  cavalry  officer.  I'm 
certain  you  ride  well." 

'^  It  is,  perhaps,  the  only  accomplishment  I  possess  in  the 
world,"  said  he,  with  some  warmth  of  manner. 

"  I  'm  delighted  to  hear  that  you  're  a  horseman.  There  's 
a  mare  of  mine  become  perfectly  impossible.  A  stupid 
creature  I  took  as  groom  hurt  her  mouth  with  a  severe  bit, 
and  she  rears  now  at  the  slightest  touch.  Could  n't  you  do 
something  with  her  ?  Pray  do ;  and  in  return  I  '11  take  you 
some  charming  rides  over  the  Campagna.  There  's  a  little 
valley  —  almost  a  glen  —  near  this,  which  I  may  say  I  dis- 
covered myself.  You  must  n't  be  afraid  of  bad  tongues 
because  you  ride  out  with  me.  Mrs.  Trumpler  will  of  course 
take  it  up.  She 's  odious  —  perfectly  odious.  You  have  n't 
seen  her  yet,  but  you  '11  have  to  call  on  her ;  she  contributes 
a  thousand  francs  a  year  to  the  Church,  and  must  not  be 
neglected.  And  then  there's  old  Sir  Marcus  Cluff — don't 
forget  him ;  and  take  care  to  remember  that  his  mother  was 
Lady  Marion  Otley,  and  don't  remember  that  his  father  was 
Cluff  and  Gosler,  the  famous  fishmonger.  I  protest  I  'm 
becoming  as  scandalous  as  Mrs.  Trumpler  herself.  And 
mind  that  you  come  back  and  tell  when  you've  seen  these 
people  what  they  said  to  you,  and  what  you  said  to  them, 
and  whether  they  abused  me.  Come  to  tea,  or,  if  you  like 
better,  come  and  dine  to-morrow  at  six,  and  I  '11  call  on  your 
mother  in  the  mean  while  and  ask  her  —  though  I  'd  rather 
you  'd  come  alone." 

''  It  is  my  sister,  madam,  that  is  with  me,"  said  he,  with 
great  difficulty  refraining  from  a  burst  of  laughter. 

"  Well,  and  I  've  said  I  'd  visit  her,  though  I  'm  not  fond 
of  women,  and  1  believe  they  never  like  me." 

L'Estrange  blundered  out  some  stupid  compliment  about 
her  having  in  recompense  abundant  admiration  from  the 
other  sex,  and  she  laughed,  and  said,  ''  Perhaps  so.  Indeed, 
I  believe  I  am  rather  a  favorite  ;  but  with  clever  men  —  not 
with  the  fools.  You  '11  see  that  they  avoid  me.  And  so," 
said  she,  drawing  a  deep  sigh,    ''  you  really  can   tell  me 


276  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

nothing  about  these  Bramleighs  ?  And  all  this  time  I  have 
been  reckoning  on  your  coming  to  hear  everything,  and  to 
know  about  the  will.  Up  to  this  hour,  I  am  totally  ignorant 
as  to  how  I  am  left.     Is  n't  that  very  dreadful?  " 

''  It  is  very  distressing  indeed,  madam." 

''  The  Colonel  always  said  he  'd  insert  a  clause  or  a  some- 
thing or  other  against  my  marrying  again.  Can  you  imagine 
anything  so  ungenerous?  It's  unchristian,  actually  unchris- 
tian —  is  n't  it?  " 

A  slight  gesture  seemed  to  say  that  he  agreed  wdth  her ; 
but  she  was  for  once  determined  to  be  answered  more  defi- 
nitely, and  she  said,  "I'm  sure,  as  a  clergyman,  you  can 
say  if  there  's  anything  in  the  Bible  against  my  having  an- 
other husband  ?  " 

"  I  'm  certain  there  is  not,  madam." 

"  How  nice  it  is  in  the  Church  of  Rome  that  when  there  's 
anything  you  want  to  do,  and  it 's  not  quite  right  to  do  it, 
you  can  have  a  dispensation  —  that  is,  the  Pope  can  make 
it  perfectly  moral  and  proper,  and  legal  besides.  Protes- 
tantism is  so  narrow  —  terribly  narrow.  As  the  dear  Mon- 
signore  Balbi  said  to  me  the  other  night,  it  is  a  long  '  Act  of 
Parliament  against  sin.'  Wasn't  that  neat?  They  are  so 
clever !  " 

"  I  am  so  new  to  Italy,  madam,  that  I  have  no  acquain- 
tance with  these  gentlemen." 

"  I  know  you  '11  like  them  when  you  do  know  them  ;  they 
are  so  gentle  and  so  persuasive — I  might  say  so  fascinating. 
I  assure  you,  Mr.  L'Estrange,  I  ran  a  very  great  risk  of 
going  over,  as  it  is  called.  Indeed,  the  '  Osservatore 
Romano '  said  I  had  gone  over ;  but  that  is  at  least  prema^ 
ture.  These  are  things  one  cannot  do  without  long  and 
deep  reflection,  and  intense  self-examination  —  don't  3^ou 
think  so?  And  the  dear  old  Cardinal  Bottesini,  who  used 
to  come  to  us  every  Friday  evening,  warned  me  himself 
against  my  impulsiveness ;  and  then  poor  Colonel  Bram- 
leigh  "  —  here  she  raised  her  handkerchief  to  her  eyes  —  "he 
would  n't  hear  of  it  at  all ;  he  was  so  devotedly  attached  to 
me  —  it  was  positive  love  in  a  man  of  his  mould  —  that  the 
thought  of  my  being  lost  to  him,  as  he  called  it,  was 
maddening ;  and  in  fact  he  —  he  made  it  downright  impos- 


THE  CHURCH  PATRONS  AT  ALBANO.      277 

sible  —  impossible!"  And  at  last  she  paused,  and  a  very 
painful  expression  in  her  face  showed  that  her  thoughts  at 
the  moment  were  far  from  pleasurable.  ''Where  was  I? 
what  was  it  I  was  going  to  say?"  resumed  she,  hurriedly. 
"  Oh,  I  remember,  I  was  going  to  tell  you  that  you  must  on 
no  account  '  go  over,'  and  therefore,  avoid  of  all  things 
what  they  call  the  '  controversy '  here ;  don't  read  their 
little  books,  and  never  make  close  friendships  with  the 
Monsignori.  You're  a  young  man,  and  naturally  enough 
would  feel  flattered  at  their  attentions,  and  all  the  social 
attractions  they  'd  surround  you  with.  Of  course  you  know 
nothing  of  life,  and  that  is  the  very  thing  they  do  under- 
stand 5  and  perhaps  it  is  not  right  of  me  to  say  it  —  it 's  like 
a  treason  —  but  the  women,  the  great  leaders  of  society,  aid 
them  powerfully.  They  'd  like  to  bring  you  over,"  said  she, 
raising  her  glass  and  looking  at  him.  "  You'd  really  look 
remarkably  well  in  a  chasuble  and  a  cope.  They  'd  positively 
fight  for  you  as  a  domestic  chaplain  "  —  and  the  thought  so 
amused  her  that  she  laughed  outright,  and  L'Estrange  him- 
self joined  her.  "  I  hope  I  have  not  wearied  you  with  my 
cautions  and  my  warnings ;  but  really,  when  I  thought  how 
utterly  alone  and  friendless  you  must  be  here,  nobody  to 
consult  with,  none  to  advise  you  —  for,  after  all,  your 
mother  could  scarcely  be  an  efficient  guide  in  such  difficulties 
—  I  felt  it  would  be  cruel  not  to  come  to  your  aid.  Have 
you  got  a  watch?  I  don't  trust  that  little  pendule,  though 
it  plays  a  delicious  '  Ave  Maria '  of  Rossini's.  What  hour 
is  it?" 

''  Half -past  four,  madam.  I  am  really  shocked  at  the 
length  of  my  visit." 

"Well,  I  must  go  away.  Perhaps  you'll  come  and  see 
my  sister  —  she's  charming,  I  assure  you,  and  she  'd  like  to 
know  you  ?  " 

''  If  you  will  vouchsafe  to  present  me  on  any  other  daj,  I 
shall  be  but  too  grateful ;  but  Sir  Marcus  Cluff  gave  me  a 
rendezvous  for  four  o'clock." 

"  And  you  '11  be  with  him  at  five,"  cried  she,  laughing. 
'^  Don't  say  it  was  I  that  made  you  break  your  appointment, 
for  he  hates  me,  and  would  never  forgive  you.  By-by. 
Tell  your  mother  I  '11  call  on  her  to-morrow,  and  hope  you  '11 


278  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

both  dine  with  me."  And  without  waiting  for  a  word  in 
reply,  she  tripped  out  of  the  summer-house,  and  hastened 
away  to  the  villa. 

L'Estrauge  had  little  time  to  think  over  this  somewhat 
strange  interview  when  he  reached  the  entrance-gate  to  the 
grounds  of  Sir  Marcus  Cluff,  and  was  scarcely  admitted 
within  the  precincts  when  a  phaeton  and  a  pah-  of  very 
diminutive  ponies  drove  up,  and  a  thin,  emaciated  man,  care- 
fully swathed  in  shawls  and  wrappers,  who  held  the  reins, 
called  out,  "  Is  that  Mr.  L'Estrange?" 

The  3^oung  parson  came  forward  with  his  excuses  for 
being  late,  and  begged  that  he  might  not  interrupt  Sir 
Marcus  in  his  intended  drive. 

''Will  you  take  a  turn  with  me?"  said  Sir  Marcus,  in 
a  whining  voice,  tl/at  sounded  like  habitual  complaint. 
"I'm  obliged  to  do  this  every  day;  it's  the  doctor's  order. 
He  says,  '  Take  the  air  and  distract  yourself ; '  and  I  do 
so."  L'Estrange  had  now  seated  himself,  and  they  drove 
away. 

"I'm  glad  you've  come,"  said  Su*  Marcus.  "It  will 
stop  all  this  plotting  and  intriguing.  If  you  had  delayed 
much  longer,  I  think  they  'd  have  had  a  dozen  here  —  one  of 
them  a  converted  Jew,  a  very  dh-ty  fellow.  Oh,  dear,  how 
fatiguing  it  is !  that  little  crop-eared  pony  pulls  so  he  can't 
be  held,  and  we  call  him  John  Bright ;  but  don't  mention  it. 
I  hope  you  have  no  family,  sk?  " 

"  I  have  my  sister  only." 

"A  sister  isn't  so  bad.  A  sister  may  marr}^,  or  she 
may  — "  What  was  the  other  alternative  did  not  appear, 
for  John  Bright  bolted  at  this  moment,  and  it  was  full  five 
minutes  ere  he  could  be  pulled  up  again.  "This  is  the 
distraction  I  'm  promised,"  said  the  sick  man.  "  If  it  was  n't 
for  Mr.  Needham  —  I  call  the  near-sider  Mr.  Needham,  as  I 
bought  him  of  that  gentleman  —  I  'd  have  too  much  distrac- 
tion ;  but  Needham  never  runs  away  —  he  falls ;  he  comes 
down  as  if  he  was  shot !  "  cried  he,  with  a  joyous  twinkle  of 
the  eye,  "  and  I  bought  him  for  that.  There  's  no  drag  ever 
was  invented  like  a  horse  on  his  belly  —  the  most  inveterate 
runaway  can't  escape  against  that."  If  the  little  cackle  that 
followed  this  speech  did  not  sound  exactly  like  a  laugh,  it 


THE  CHURCH  PATRONS  AT  ALBANO.      279 

was   all  of   that  emotion  tliat  Sir   Marcus    ever  permitted 
himself. 

"  I  can't  ask  you  if  you  like  this  place.  You  're  too  newly 
come  to  answer  that  question,"  resumed  he;  "but  I  may 
.ask  what  is  the  sort  of  society  you  prefer?" 

"I've  seen  next  to  nothing  of  the  world  since  I  left  the 
University.  I  have  been  living  these  last  four  or  five  years 
in  one  of  the  least  visited  spots  ii;  Great  Britain,  and  only 
since  the  arrival  of  the  Bramleigh  family  had  a  neighbor  to 
speak  to." 

"  Ah,  then,  you  know  these  Bramleighs  ?  "  said  the  other 
with  more  animation  than  he  had  yet  displayed.  "  Over- 
bearing people,  I've  heard  they  were  —  very  rich,  and  inso- 
lent to  a  degree." 

"  I  must  say  I  have  found  them  everything  that  was  kind 
and  considerate,  hospitable  neighbors,  and  very  warm- 
hearted friends." 

"  That's  not  the  world's  judgment  on  them,  my  dear  sir 
—  far  from  it.  They  are  a  proverb  for  pretension  and  im- 
pertinence. As  for  Lady  Augusta  here  —  to  be  sure  she  's 
only  one  of  them  by  marriage  —  but  there 's  not  a  soul  in 
the  place  she  has  not  outraged.  She  goes  nowhere  —  of 
course,  that  she  has  a  right  to  do  —  but  she  never  returns 
a  call,  never  even  sends  a  card.  She  went  so  far  as  to 
tell  Mr.  Pemberton,  your  predecessor  here,  that  she  liked 
Albano  for  its  savagery  ;  that  there  was  no  one  to  know  was 
its  chief  charm  for  her." 

"  I  saw  her  for  the  first  time  this  morning,"  said  L'Estrange, 
not  liking  to  involve  himself  in  this  censure. 

"  And  she  fascinated  you,  of  course?  I'm  told  she  does 
that  with  every  good-looking  young  fellow  that  comes  in  her 
way.  She  's  a  finished  coquette,  they  say.  I  don't  know 
what  that  means,  nor  do  I  believe  it  would  have  much  suc- 
cess with  me  if  I  did  know.  All  the  coquetry  she  bestows 
upon  me  is  to  set  my  ponies  off  in  full  gallop  whenever  she 
overtakes  me  driving.  She  starts  away  in  a  sharp  canter 
just  behind  me,  and  John  Bright  fancies  it  a  race,  and  away 
he  goes  too,  and  if  Mr.  Needham  was  of  the  same  mettle  I 
don't  know  what  would  become  of  us.  I'm  afraid,  besides, 
she  's  a  connection  of  mine.    My  mother,  Lady  Marion,  was 


280  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

cousin  to  one  of  the  Delahunts  of  Kings  Cromer.  Would 
you  mind  taking  the  reins  for  a  while,  John  is  fearfully  rash 
to-day?  Just  sit  where  you  are,  the  near-side  gives  you  the 
whip-hand  for  Needham.  Ah  !  that 's  a  relief  !  Turn  down 
the  next  road  on  your  left.  And  so  she  never  asked  you 
about  your  tenets  —  never  inquired  whether  you  were  High 
Church  or  Low  Church  or  no  church  at  all?  " 

"Pardon  me,  Sir  Marcus;  she  was  particularly  anxious 
that  I  should  guard  myself  against  Romish  fascinations  and 
advances." 

"Ah,  she  knows  them  all!  They  thought  they  had 
secured  her  —  indeed  they  were  full  sure  of  it ;  but  as  she 
said  to  poor  Mr.  Pemberton,  they  found  they  had  hatched 
a  duck.  She  was  only  flirting  with  Rome.  The  woman 
would  flirt  with  the  Holy  Father,  sir,  if  she  had  a  chance. 
There 's  nothing  serious,  nothing  real,  nothing  honest  about 
her  ;  but  she  charmed  you^  for  all  that  —  I  see  it.  I  see  it 
all ;  and  you  're  to  take  moonlight  rides  with  her  over  the 
Campagna.  Ha,  ha,  ha!  Haven't  I  hit  it?  Poor  old 
Pemberton  —  fifty-eight  if  he  was  an  hour  —  got  a  bad 
bronchitis  with  these  same  night  excursions.  Worse  than 
that,  he  made  the  place  too  hot  for  him.  Mrs.  Trumpler 
—  an  active  woman  Mrs.  T.,  and  the  ej^e  of  a  hawk  — 
would  n't  stand  the  '  few  sweet  moments,'  as  poor  Pem- 
berton in  his  simplicity  called  them.  She  threatened  him 
with  a  general  meeting,  and  a  vote  of  censure,  and  a  letter 
to  the  Bishop  of  Gibraltar ;  and  she  frightened  him  so  that 
he  resigned.  I  was  away  at  the  time  at  the  baths  at  Ischia, 
or  I'd  have  tried  to  patch  up  matters.  Indeed,  as  I  told 
Mrs.  T.,  I'd  have  tried  to  get  rid  of  my  Lady,  instead  of 
banishing  poor  Pemberton,  as  kind-hearted  a  creature  as 
ever  I  met,  and  a  capital  whist-player.  Not  one  of  your 
new-fangled  fellows,  with  the  '  call  for  trumps '  and  all  the 
last  devices  of  the  Portland,  but  a  steady  player,  who  never 
varied  —  did  n't  go  chopping  about,  changing  his  suits,  and 
making  false  leads,  but  went  manfully  through  his  hearts 
before  he  opened  his  spades.  We  were  at  Christ  Church 
together.  I  knew  him  for  a  matter  of  six-and-thirty  years, 
Mr.  L'Estrange,  and  I  pledge  you  my  word  of  honor"  — 
here  his  voice  grew  tremulous  with  agitation  —  ' '  and  in  all 


THE   CHURCH  PATRONS   AT  ALBANO.  281 

that  time  I  never  knew  him  revoke  !  "  He  drew  his  hat  over 
his  eyes  as  he  spoke,  and  leaning  back  in  the  seat  seemed 
almost  overcome  by  his  emotions. 

' '  Will  you  turn  in  there  at  the  small  gate  ?  It  is  a  pri- 
vate entrance  to  my  grounds.  1  '11  not  ask  you  to  come  in 
to-day,  sir.  I  'm  a  little  flurried  and  nervous  ;  but  if  you  '11 
join  a  sick  man's  dinner  at  two  o'clock  to-morrow  —  some 
rice  and  a  chicken  and  a  bit  of  fish  —  nothing  more,  I  prom- 
ise you.  Well,  well,  I  see  it  does  not  tempt  you.  My  best 
thanks  for  your  pleasant  company.  Let  me  see  you  soon. 
Take  care  of  yourself,  beware  of  my  Lad}'',  and  avoid  the 
moonlight !  " 

Apparently  this  little  sally  seemed  to  revive  the  invalid, 
for  he  stepped  up  the  approach  to  his  house  with  a  lively  air 
and  waved  his  hand  pleasantly  as  he  said  adieu. 

"There's  another  still!  "  muttered  L'Estrange  as  he  in- 
quired the  way  to  Mrs.  Trumpler's ;  "and  I  wish  with  all 
my  heart  it  was  over." 

L'Estrange  found  Mrs.  Trumpler  at  tea.  She  was  an 
early  diner,  and  took  tea  about  six  o'clock,  after  which  she 
went  out  for  an  evening  drive  over  the  Campagna.  In 
aspect,  the  lady  was  not  prepossessing.  She  was  very  red- 
faced,  with  large  grizzly  curls  arranged  in  a  straight  line 
across  her  forehead,  and  she  wore  spectacles  of  such  a  size 
as  to  give  her  somewhat  the  look  of  an  owl.  In  figure,  she 
was  portly  and  stout,  and  had  a  stand-up  sort  of  air,  that,  to 
a  timid  or  bashful  man  like  the  curate,  was  the  reverse  of 
reassuring. 

"  I  perceive,  sir,  I  am  the  last  on  your  list,"  said  she, 
looking  at  her  watch  as  he  entered.     "  It  is  past  six." 

"  I  regret,  madam,  if  I  have  come  at  an  inconvenient  hour. 
Will  you  allow  me  to  wait  on  you  to-morrow?  " 

"  No,  sir.  We  will,  with  your  permission,  avail  ourselves 
of  the  present  to  make  acquaintance  with  each  other."  She 
rang  the  bell  after  this  speech,  and  ordered  that  the  carriage 
should  be  sent  away.  "I  shall  not  drive,  Giacomo,"  said 
she ;   "  and  I  do  not  receive  if  any  one  calls." 

"  You  brought  me  a  letter,  sir,  from  the  Reverend  Silas 
Smallwood,"  said  she,  very  much  in  the  tone  of  a  barrister 
cross-examining  a  troublesome  witness. 


282  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  Yes,  madam  ;  that  gentleman  kindly  offered  a  friend  of 
mine  to  be  the  means  of  presenting  me  to  you." 

"  So  that  you  are  not  personally  acquainted,  sir?  " 

"We  have  never,  so  far  as  I  know,  even  seen  each 
other." 

"It  is  as  well,  sir,  fully  as  well.  Mr.  Smallwood  is  a 
person  for  whose  judgment  or  discrimination  I  would  have 
the  ver}^  humblest  opinion,  and  I  have  therefore,  from  what 
you  tell  nie,  the  hope  that  you  are  not  of  his  party  in  the 
Church." 

"lam  unable  to  answer  you,  madam,  knowing  nothing 
whatever  of  Mr.  Small  wood's  peculiar  views." 

"This  is  fencing,  sir;  and  I  don't  admire  fencing.  Let 
us  understand  each  other.  What  have  you  come  here  to 
preach  ?     I  hope  my  question  is  a  direct  one  ?  " 

"I  am  an  ordained  minister  of  the  Church  of  England, 
madam ;  and  when  I  have  said  so,  I  have  answered  you.'* 

' '  What,  sir  ?  do  you  imagine  your  reply  is  sufficient  in  an 
age  when  not  alone  every  doctrine  is  embraced  within  the 
Church,  but  that  there  is  a  very  large  and  increasing  party 
who  are  prepared  to  have  no  doctrine  at  all?  I  perceive, 
sir,  I  must  make  my  approaches  to  you  in  a  different  fashion. 
Are  you  a  man  of  vestments,  gesticulations,  and  glass 
windows?     Do  you  dramatize  your  Christianity?" 

"  I  believe  I  can  say  no,  madam,  to  all  these." 

"  Are  you  a  Literalist,  then?  What  about  Noah,  sir? 
Let  me  hear  what  you  have  to  say  about  the  Flood.  Have 
you  ever  calculated  what  forty  days'  rainfall  would  amount 
to?  Do  you  know  that  in  Assam,  where  the  rains  are  the 
heaviest  in  that  part  of  the  world,  and  in  Colon,  in  Central 
America,  no  twelve  hours'  rain  ever  passed  five  inches  and 
three  quarters?  You  are,  I  am  sure,  acquainted  with  Esch- 
schormes'  book  on  the  Nile  deposits  ?  If  not,  sir,  it  is  yonder 
—  at  your  service.  Now,  sir,  we  shall  devote  this  evening 
to  the  Deluge,  and,  so  far  as  time  permits,  the  age  of  the 
earth.  To-morrow  evening  we  '11  take  Moses,  on  Staub's 
suggestion  that  many  persons  were  included  under  that  name. 
We'll  keep  the  Pentateuch  for  Friday,  for  I  expect  the 
Rabbi  Bensi  will  be  here  by  that  time." 

"Will  you  pardon  me,  madam,"  said  L'Estrange,  rising. 


THE   CHURCH  PATRONS   AT   ALBANO.  283 

"  if  I  decline  entering  upon  all  discussion  of  these  momen- 
tous questions  with  you?  I  have  no  such  scholarship  as 
would  enable  me  to  prove  instructive,  and  I  have  conviction 
sufficiently  strong,  in  my  faith  in  other  men's  learning,  to 
enable  me  to  reject  quibbles  and  be  unmoved  by  subtleties. 
Besides,"  added  he,  in  a  sharper  tone,  ''  I  have  come  here 
to  have  the  honor  of  making  your  acquaintance,  and  not  to 
submit  myself  to  an  examination.  May  I  wish  you  a  good 
evening  ?  " 

How  he  took  his  leave,  how  he  descended  the  stairs,  and 
rushed  into  the  street,  and  found  his  way  to  the  little  inn 
where  his  sister  wearily  was  waiting  dinner  for  him,  the  poor 
curate  never  knew  to  the  last  day  of  his  life. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

A  SMALL  LODGING  AT  LOUYAIN. 

In  a  very  humble  quarter  of  the  old  town  of  Lou  vain,  at  the 
corner  of  La  Rue  des  Moines,  Augustus  Bramleigh  and  his 
sister  had  taken  up  their  lodgings.  Madame  Jervasse,  the 
proprietress  of  the  house,  had  in  her  youth  been  thefemme- 
de-chambre  of  some  high-born  dame  of  Brussels,  and  offered 
her  services  in  the  same  capacity  to  Ellen,  while,  with  the  aid 
of  her  own  servant,  she  prepared  then-  meals,  thus  at  once 
supplying  the  modest  requirements  they  needed.  Augustus 
Bramleigh  was  not  a  very  resolute  or  determined  man, 
but  his  was  one  of  those  natures  that  acquire  solidity  from 
pressure.  When  once  he  found  himself  on  the  road  of 
sacrifices,  his  self-esteem  imparted  vigor  and  energy  to  his 
character.  In  the  ordinary  course  of  events  he  w^as  accus- 
tomed to  hold  himself  —  his  abilities  and  his  temperament  — 
cheaply  enough.  No  man  was  ever  less  self-opinionated  or 
self-confident.  If  referred  to  for  advice,  or  even  for  opin- 
ion, he  would  modestly  decline  the  last,  and  say,  "Marion 
or  Temple  perhaps  could  help  you  here."  He  shrank  from 
all  self-assertion  wliatever,  and  it  was  ever  a  most  painful 
moment  to  him  when  he  was  presented  to  any  one  as  the 
future  head  of  the  house  and  the  heir  to  the  Bramleigh 
estates.  To  Ellen,  from  whom  he  had  no  secrets,  he  had 
often  confessed  how  he  wished  he  had  been  a  younger  son. 
All  his  tastes  and  all  his  likings  were  those  to  be  enjoyed  by 
a  man  of  moderate  fortune,  and  an  ambition  even  smaller 
than  that  fortune.  He  would  say,  too,  half-jestingly,  "With 
such  aspiring  spirits  amongst  us  as  Marion  and  Temple,  I 
can  afford  mj^self  the  luxury  of  obscurity.  They  are  sure  to 
carry  our  banner  loftily,  and  I  may  with  safety  go  on  my 
humble  path  unnoticed." 


A  SMALL  LODGING  AT  LOUVAIN.  285 

Jack  had  always  been  his  favorite  brother:  his  jo3^ous 
nature,  his  sailor-like  frankness,  his  spirit,  and  his  willing- 
ness to  oblige,  contrasted  very  favorably  with  Temple's 
sedate,  cautious  manner,  and  the  traces  of  a  selfishness  that 
never  forgot  itself.  Had  Jack  been  the  second  son  instead 
of  the  youngest,  Augustus  would  have  abdicated  in  his  favor 
at  once,  but  he  could  not  make  such  a  sacrifice  for  Temple. 
All  the  less  that  the  very  astute  diplomatist  continually 
harped  on  the  sort  of  qualities  which  were  required  to  dis- 
pense an  ample  fortune,  and  more  than  insinuated  how  much 
such  a  position  would  become  himself,  while  another  might 
only  regard  it  as  a  burden  and  a  worry.  It  was  certainly  a 
great  shock  to  him  to  learn  that  there  was  a  claimant  to  his 
family  fortune  and  estate:  the  terrible  feeling  that  they 
were  to  appear  before  the  world  as  impostors  —  holding  a 
station  and  dispensing  a  wealth  to  which  they  had  no  right 
—  almost  overcame  him.  The  disgrace  of  a  public  expo- 
sure, the  notoriety  it  would  evoke,  were  about  the  most 
poignant  sufferings  such  a  man  could  be  brought  to  endure. 
He  to  whom  a  newspaper  comment,  a  mere  passing  notice 
of  his  name,  was  a  source  of  pain  and  annoyance,  —  that  he 
should  figure  in  a  great  trial,  and  his  downfall  be  made  the 
theme  of  moral  reflections  in  a  leading  article !  How  was 
this  to  be  borne?  What  could  break  the  fall  from  a  posi- 
tion of  aflfluence  and  power  to  a  condition  of  penury  and 
insignificance?  Nothing,  —  if  not  the  spirit  which,  by  meet- 
ing disaster  half-way,  seemed  at  least  to  accept  the  inevi- 
table with  courage,  and  so  carry  a  high  heart  in  the  last 
moments  of  defeat. 

Augustus  well  knew  what  a  mistaken  estimate  the  world 
had  ever  formed  of  his  timid,  bashful  nature,  and  this  had 
given  his  manner  a  semblance  of  pride  and  hauteur  which 
made  the  keynote  of  his  character.  It  was  all  in  vain  that 
he  tried  to  persuade  people  that  he  had  not  an  immeasurable 
self-conceit.  They  saw  it  in  his  every  word  and  gesture,  in 
his  coolness  when  they  approached  him,  in  his  almost  ungra- 
ciousness when  they  were  courteous  to  him.  "Many  will 
doubtless  declare,"  said  he,  "  that  this  reverse  of  fortune  is 
but  a  natural  justice  on  one  who  plumed  himself  too  much 
on  his  prosperity,  and  who  arrogated  too  far  on  the  accident 


286  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

of  his  wealth.  If  so,  I  can  but  say  they  will  not  judge  me 
fairly.  They  will  know  nothing  of  where  my  real  suffering 
lies.  It  is  less  the  loss  of  fortune  I  deplore,  than  the 
world's  judgment  on  having  so  long  usurped  that  we  had 
no  right  to." 

From  the  day  he  read  Sedley's  letter  and  held  that  conver- 
sation with  the  lawyer,  in  which  he  heard  that  the  claimant's 
case  seemed  a  very  strong  one,  and  that  perhaps  the  Bram- 
leighs  had  nothing  to  oppose  to  it  of  so  much  weight  as  the 
great  fact  of  possession,  —  from  that  hour  he  took  a  de- 
spairing view  of  the  case.  There  are  men  who  at  the  first 
reverse  of  fortune  throw  down  their  cards  and  confess  them- 
selves beaten.  There  are  men  who  can  accept  defeat  itself 
better  than  meet  the  vacillating  events  of  a  changeful  des- 
tiny; who  have  no  persistence  in  their  courage,  nor  any 
resources  to  meet  the  coming  incidents  of  life.  Augustus 
Bramleigh  possessed  a  great  share  of  this  temperament.  It 
is  true  that  Sedley,  after  much  persuasion,  induced  him  to 
entertain  the  idea  of  a  compromise,  carefully  avoiding  the 
use  of  that  unhappy  word,  and  substituting  for  it  the  less 
obnoxious  expression  "  arrangement."  Now  this  same  ar- 
rangement, as  Mr.  Sedley  put  it,  was  a  matter  which  con- 
cerned the  Bramleighs  collectively,  —  seeing  that  if  the  family 
estates  were  to  be  taken  away,  nothing  would  remain  to  fur- 
nish a  provision  for  younger  children.  "You  must  ascer- 
tain what  your  brothers  will  do,"  wrote  Sedley;  "  you  must 
inquire  how  far  Lord  Culduff  —  who  through  his  marriage 
has  a  rent-charge  on  the  estate  —  will  be  willing  to  contrib- 
ute to  an  '  arrangement.'  " 

Nothing  could  be  less  encouraging  than  the  answer  this 
appeal  called  forth.  Lord  Culduff  wrote  back  in  the  tone 
of  an  injured  man,  all  but  declaring  that  he  had  been  regu- 
larly taken  in;  indeed,  he  did  not  scruple  to  aver  that  it 
had  never  been  his  intention  to  embark  in  a  ship  that  was 
sure  to  founder,  and  he  threw  out  something  like  a  rebuke 
on  the  indelicacy  of  asking  him  to  add  to  the  sacrifice  he 
had  already  made  for  the  honor  of  being  allied  to  them. 

Temple's  note  ran  thus:  — 

Dear  Gusty,  —  If  your  annoyances  have  not  affected  your 
brain,  I  am  at  a  loss  for  an  explanation  of  your  last  letter.    How, 


A  SMALL  LODGDs^G  AT  LOUVAIN.  28? 

I  would  ask  you,  is  a  poor  secretary  of  legation  to  subsist  on  the 
beggarly  pittance  F.  O.  affords  him  ?  Four  hundred  and  fifty  per 
annum  is  to  supply  rent,  clothes,  club  expenses,  a  stall  at  the  opera, 
and  one's  little  charities  in  perhaps  one  of  the  dearest  capitals  in 
Europe.  So  far  from  expecting  the  demands  you  have  made  upon 
me,  I  actually,  at  the  moment  of  receiving  yours,  had  a  half- 
finished  note  on  my  writing-table  asking  you  to  increase  my  poor 
allowance.  When  I  left  Castello,  I  think  you  had  sixteen  horses. 
Can  you  possibly  want  more  than  two  for  the  carriage  and  one 
for  your  own  riding?  As  to  your  garden  and  greenhouse  ex- 
penses, I  '11  lay  ten  to  one  your  first  peas  cost  you  a  guinea  a 
quart,  and  you  never  saw  a  pine  at  your  table  under  five-and- 
twenty  pounds ;  and  now  that  I  am  on  the  theme  of  reduction,  I 
would  ask  what  do  you  want  with  a  chef  at  two  hundred  and  fifty 
a  year  V  Do  you,  or  does  Ellen,  ever  eat  of  anything  but  the  sim- 
plest diet  at  table  ?  Don't  you  send  away  the  entrees  every  day, 
wait  for  the  roast  gigot,  or  the  turkey,  or  the  woodcocks,  and  in 
consequence,  does  not  Monsieur  Gregoire  leave  the  cookery  to  be 
done  by  one  of  his  "  aides,"  and  betake  himself  to  the  healthful 
pursuit  of  snipe-shooting,  and  the  evening  delight  of  Mrs.  Some- 
body's tea  at  Portshandon?  Why  not  add  this  useless  extrava- 
gance to  the  condemned  list  of  the  vineries,  the  stables,  and  the 
score  of  other  extraordinaries,  which  an  energetic  hand  would 
reduce  in  half  an  hour? 

I  *m  sure  you  '11  not  take  it  in  ill  part  that  I  bring  these  things 
under  your  notice.     Whether  out  of  the  balance  in  hand  you  will 
give  me  five  hundred  a  year,  or  only  three,  I  shall  ever  remain 
Your  affectionate  brother, 

Temple  Edgerton  Bramleigh. 

"Read  that,  Nelly,"  said  Augustus,  as  he  threw  it  across 
the  table.     "I  'm  almost  afraid  to  say  what  I  think  of  it." 

This  was  said  as  they  sat  in  their  little  lodgings  in  the 
Rue  des  Moines;  for  the  letter  had  been  sent  through  an 
embassy  bag,  and  consequently  had  been  weeks  on  the  road, 
besides  lying  a  month  on  a  tray  in  the  Foreign  Office  till 
some  idle  lounger  had  taken  the  caprice  to  forward  it. 

"Her  Majesty's  Legation  at  Naples.  Lord  Culduff  is 
there  special,  and  Temple  is  acting  as  secretary  to  him." 

"And  does  Marion  send  no  message?  " 

"Oh,  yes.  She  wants  all  the  trunks  and  carriage-boxes 
which  she  left  at  Castello  to  be  forwarded  to  town  for  trans- 
mission  abroad.     I  don't   think  she  remembers  us  much 


288  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

further.  She  hopes  I  will  not  have  her  old  mare  sold,  but 
make  arrangements  for  her  having  a  free  paddock  for  the 
rest  of  her  life ;  and  she  adds  that  you  ought  to  take  the 
pattern  of  the  slipper  on  her  side-saddle,  for  if  it  should 
happen  that  you  ever  ride  again,  you  '11  find  it  better  than 
any  they  make  now." 

"Considerate,  at  all  events.  They  tell  us  that  love  alone 
remembers  trifles.     Is  n't  this  a  proof  of  it,  Gusty?  " 

"Read  Temple  now,  and  try  to  put  me  in  better  temper 
with  him  than  I  feel  at  this  moment." 

"I  couldn't  feel  angry  with  Temple,"  said  she,  quietly. 
"All  he  does  and  all  he  says  so  palpably  springs  from  cou~ 
sideration  of  self,  that  it  would  be  unjust  to  resent  in  him 
what  one  would  not  endure  from  another.  In  fact,  he 
means  no  harm  to  any  one,  and  a  great  deal  of  good  to 
Temple  Bramleigh." 

"  And  you  think  that  commendable  ?  " 

"I  have  not  said  so;  but  it  certainly  would  not  irritate 
me." 

She  opened  the  letter  after  this  and  read  it  over  leisurely. 

"  Well,  and  what  do  you  say  now,  Nelly  ?  "  asked  he. 

"That  it's  Temple  all  over;  he  does  not  know  why  in 
this  shipwreck  every  one  is  not  helping  to  make  a  lifeboat 
for  him.  It  seems  such  an  obvious  and  natural  thing  to  do 
that  he  regards  the  omission  as  scarcely  credible." 

"Does  he  not  see  —  does  he  not  care  for  the  ruin  that 
has  overtaken  us?" 

"Yes,  he  sees  it,  and  is  very  sorry  for  it;  but  he  opines, 
at  the  same  time,  that  the  smallest  amount  of  the  disaster 
should  fall  to  his  share.  Here  's  something  very  different," 
said  she,  taking  a  letter  from  her  pocket.  "  This  is  from 
Julia.  She  writes  from  her  little  villa  at  Albano,  and  asks 
us  to  come  and  stay  with  them." 

"How  thoroughly  kind  and  good-natured!  " 

"Was  it  not,  Gusty?  She  goes  over  how  we  are  to  be 
lodged,  and  is  full  of  little  plans  of  pleasure  and  enjoy- 
ment ;  she  adds,  too,  what  a  benefit  you  would  be  to  poor 
George,  who  is  driven  half  wild  with  the  meddlesome  inter- 
ference of  the  Church  magnates.  They  dictate  to  him  in 
everything,  and  a  Mrs.  Trumpler  actually  sends  him   the 


A  SMALL  LODGING  AT  LOUVAIN.  289 

texts  on  which  she  desires  him  to  hold  forth ;  while  Lady- 
Augusta  persecutes  him  with  projects  in  which  theological 
discussion,  as  she  understands  it,  is  to  be  carried  on  in 
rides  over  the  Campagna,  and  picnics  to  the  hills  behind 
Albano.  Julia  says  that  he  will  not  be  able  to  bear  it 
without  the  comfort  and  companionship  of  some  kind 
friend,  to  whom  he  can  have  recourse  in  his  moments  of 
difficulty." 

"It  would  be  delightful  to  go  there,  Nelly;  but  it  is 
impossible." 

"I  know  it  is,"  said  she,  gravely. 

"We  could  not  remove  so  far  from  England  while  this 
affair  is  yet  undetermined.  We  must  remain  where  we  can 
communicate  easily  with  Sedley." 

"There  are  scores  of  reasons  against  the  project,"  said 
she!,  in  the  same  grave  tone.    "Let  us  not  speak  of  it  more." 

Augustus  looked  at  her,  but  she  turned  away  her  face, 
and  he  could  only  mark  that  her  cheeks  and  throat  were 
covered  with  a  deep  blush. 

"This  part  of  Julia's  letter  is  very  curious,"  said  she, 
turning  to  the  last  page.  "They  were  stopping  at  a  little 
inn,  one  night,  where  Pracontal  and  Longworth  arrived, 
and  George,  by  a  mere  accident,  heard  Pracontal  declare 
that  he  would  have  given  anything  to  have  known  you  per- 
sonally; that  he  desired,  above  everything,  to  be  received 
by  you  on  terms  of  friendship,  and  even  of  kindred;  that 
the  whole  of  this  unhappy  business  could  have  been  settled 
amicably,  and,  in  fact,  he  never  ceased  to  blame  himself 
for  the  line  into  which  his  lawyer's  advice  had  led  him, 
while  all  his  wishes  tended  to  an  opposite  direction." 

"But  Sedley  says  he  has  accepted  the  arrangement,  and 
abandoned  all  claim  in  future." 

"So  he  has,  and  it  is  for  that  he  blames  himself.  He 
says  it  debars  him  from  the  noble  part  he  desired  to  take." 

"I  was  no  part  to  this  compromise,  Nelly;  remember 
that.  I  yielded  to  reiterated  entreaty  a  most  unwilling 
assent,  declaring,  always,  that  the  law  must  decide  the  case 
between  us,  and  the  rightful  owner  have  his  own.  Let  not 
Mr.  Pracontal  imagine  that  all  the  high-principled  action  is 
on  his  side ;  from  the  very  first,  I  declared  that  I  would  not 

19 


290  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

enjoy  for  an  hour  what  I  did  not  regard  undisputably  as 
my  own.  You  can  bear  witness  to  this,  Nelly.  I  simply 
assented  to  the  •  arrangement,  as  they  called  it,  to  avoid 
unnecessary  scandal.  What  the  law  shall  decide  between 
us,  need  call  forth  no  evil  passions  or  ill-will.  If  the 
fortune  we  had  believed  our  own  belongs  to  another,  let 
him  have  it."  

The  tone  of  high  excitement  in  which  he  spoke  plainly 
revealed  how  far  a  nervous  temperament  and  a  susceptible 
nature  had  to  do  with  his  present  resolve.  Nelly  had  seen 
this  before,  but  never  so  fully  revealed  as  now.  She  knew 
well  the  springs  which  could  move  him  to  acts  of  self- 
sacrifice  and  devotion,  but  she  had  not  thoroughly  realized 
to  herself  that  it  was  in  a  paroxysm  of  honorable  emotion 
he  had  determined  to  accept  the  reverse  of  fortune,  Avhich 
would  leave  him  penniless  in  the  world. 

"No,  Nelly!  "  said  he,  as  he  arose  and  walked  the  room, 
with  head  erect,  and  a  firm  step.  "We  shall  not  suffer 
these  people  who  talk  slightingly  of  the  newly  risen  gentry 
to  have  their  scoff  unchallenged !  It  is  the  cant  of  the  day 
to  talk  of  mercantile  honor  and  City  notions  of  what  is 
high-minded  and  right,  and  I  shall  show  them  that  tve  — 
'Lombard  Street  people,'  as  some  newspaper  scribe  called 
us  the  other  day  —  that  we  can  do  things  the  proudest  earl 
in  the  peerage  would  shrink  back  from  as  from  a  sacrifice 
he  could  not  dare  to  face.  There  can  be  no  sneer  at  a  class 
that  can  produce  men  who  accept  beggary  rather  than  dis- 
honor. As  that  Frenchman  said,  these  habits  of  luxury 
and  splendor  were  things  he  had  never  known,  —  the  want 
of  them  would  leave  no  blank  in  his  existence.  Whereas 
to  us  they  were  the  daily  accidents  of  life;  they  entered 
into  our  ways  and  habits,  and  made  part  of  our  very 
natures;  giving  them  up  was  like  giving  up  ourselves,  — 
surrendering  an  actual  identity.  You  saw  our  distin- 
guished connection.  Lord  Culduff,  how  he  replied  to  my 
letter,  —  a  letter,  by  the  way,  I  should  never  have  stooped 
to  write ;  but  Sedley  had  my  ear  at  the  time,  and  influenced 
me  against  my  own  convictions.  The  noble  Viscount, 
however,  was  free  from  all  extraneous  pressure,  and  he  told 
us  as  plainly  as  words  could  tell  it,  that  he  had  paid  heavily 


A  SMALL  LODGING  AT  LOUVAIN.  291 

enough  already  for  the  honor  of  being  connected  with  us, 
and  had  no  intention  to  contribute  another  sacrifice.  As 
for  Temple,  — I  won't  speak  of  him;  poor  Jack,  how  differ- 
ently he  would  have  behaved  in  such  a  crisis." 

Happy  at  the  opportunity  to  draw  her  brother  away,  even 
passingly,  from  a  theme  that  seemed  to  press  upon  him  un- 
ceasingly, she  drew  from  the  drawer  of  a  little  work-table  a 
small  photograph,  and  handed  it  to  him,  saying,  "Is  it  not 
like?" 

"Jack!  "  cried  he.  "In  a  sailor's  jacket,  too!  What  is 
this?" 

"He  goes  out  as  a  mate  to  China,"  said  she,  calmly. 
"He  wrote  me  but  half  a  dozen  lines,  but  they  were  full  of 
hope  and  cheerfulness.  He  said  that  he  had  every  prospect 
of  getting  a  ship,  when  he  was  once  out;  that  an  old  mess- 
mate had  written  to  his  father  —  a  great  merchant  at 
Shanghai  —  about  him,  and  that  he  had  not  the  slightest 
fears  for  his  future." 

"Would  any  one  believe  in  a  reverse  so  complete  as 
this?"  cried  Augustus,  as  he  clasped  his  hands  before  him. 
"Who  ever  heard  of  such  ruin  in  so  short  a  time?  " 

"Jack  certainly  takes  no  despairing  view  of  life,"  said 
she,  quietly. 

"What!  does  he  pretend  to  say  it  is  nothing  to  descend 
from  his  rank  as  an  officer  of  the  navy,  with  a  brilliant 
prospect  before  him,  and  an  affluent  connection  at  his  back, 
to  be  a  common  sailor,  or,  at  best,  one  grade  removed  from 
a  common  sailor,  and  his  whole  family  beggared  ?  Is  this 
the  picture  he  can  afford  to  look  on  with  pleasure  or  with 
hope?  The  man  who  sees  in  his  downfall  no  sacrifice  or 
no  degradation,  has  no  sympathy  of  mine.  To  tell  me  that 
he  is  stout-hearted  is  absurd;  he  is  simply  unfeeling." 

Nelly's  face  and  even  her  neck  became  crimson,  and  her 
eyes  fiashed  indignantly ;  but  she  repressed  the  passionate 
words  that  were  almost  on  her  lips,  and  taking  the  photo- 
graph from  him,  replaced  it  in  the  drawer,  and  turned  the 
key. 

"  Has  Marion  written  to  you  ?  "  asked  he,  after  a  pause. 

"Only  a  few  lines.  I  'm  afraid  she  's  not  very  happy  in 
her  exalted  condition,  after  all,  for  she  concluded  with  these 


292  THE   BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

words:  'It  is  a  cruel  blow  that  has  befallen  you,  but  don't 
fancy  that  there  are  not  miseries  as  hard  to  bear  in  life  as 
those  which  display  themselves  in  public  and  flaunt  their 
sufferings  before  the  world.'" 

"That  old  fop's  temper,  perhaps,  is  hard  to  bear  with," 
said  he,  carelessly. 

"You  must  write  to  George  L' Estrange,  Gusty,"  said  she, 
coaxingly.  "There  are  no  letters  he  likes  so  much  as 
yours.  He  says  you  are  the  only  one  who  ever  knew  how 
to  advise  without  taking  that  tone  of  superiority  that  is  so 
offensive,  and  he  needs  advice  just  now,  —  he  is  driven  half 
wild  with  dictation  and  interference." 

She  talked  on  in  this  strain  for  some  time,  till  he  grew 
gradually  calmer;  and  his  features,  losing  their  look  of 
intensity  and  eagerness,  regained  their  ordinary  expression 
of  gentleness  and  quiet. 

"Do  you  know  what  was  passing  through  my  mind  just 
now?"  said  he,  smiling  half  sadly.  "I  was  wishing  it  was 
George  had  been  Marion's  husband  instead  of  Lord  Culduff. 
We  'd  have  been  so  united,  the  very  narrowness  of  our 
fortunes  would  have  banded  us  more  closely  together,  and  I 
believe,  firmly  believe,  we  might  have  been  happier  in  these 
days  of  humble  condition  than  ever  we  were  in  our  palmy 
ones;  do  you  agree  with  me,   Nelly?" 

Her  face  was  now  crimson;  and  if  Augustus  had  not 
been  the  least  observant  of  men,  he  must  have  seen  how  his 
words  had  agitated  her.  She  merely  said,  with  affected  in- 
difference, "  Who  can  tell  how  these  things  would  turn  out  ? 
There  's  a  nice  gleam  of  sunlight.  Gusty.  Let  us  have  a 
walk.     I'll  go  for  my  hat." 

She  fled  from  the  room  before  he  had  time  to  reply,  and 
the  heavy  clap  of  a  door  soon  told  that  she  had  reached  her 
chamber. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

AT    LOUVAIN. 

There  are  few  delusions  more  common  with  well-to-do 
people  than  the  belief  that  if  "  put  to  it "  they  could  earn 
their  own  livelihood  in  a  variety  of  ways.  Almost  every 
man  has  some  two  or  three  or  more  accomplishments  which 
he  fancies  would  be  quite  adequate  to  his  support;  and 
remembering  with  what  success  the  exercise  of  these  gifts 
has  ever  been  hailed  in  the  society  of  his  friends,  he  has 
a  sort  of  generous  dislike  to  be  obliged  to  eclipse  some 
poor  drudge  of  a  professional,  who,  of  course,  will  be  con- 
signed to  utter  oblivion  after  his  own  performance. 

Augustus  Bramleigh  was  certainly  not  a  conceited  or  a 
vain  man,  and  yet  he  had  often,  in  his  palmy  days,  ima- 
gined how  easy  it  would  be  for  him  to  provide  for  his  own 
support;  he  was  something  of  a  musician,  he  sang  pleas- 
ingly, he  drew  a  little,  he  knew  something  of  three  or  four 
modern  languages,  he  had  that  sort  of  smattering  acquaint- 
ance with  questions  of  religion,  politics,  and  literature 
which  the  world  calls  being  "  well-informed ;  "  and  yet 
nothing  short  of  grave  Necessity  revealed  to  him  that, 
towards  the  object  of  securing  a  livelihood,  a  cobbler  in  his 
bulk  was  out  and  out  his  master. 

The  world  has  no  need  of  the  man  of  small  acquirements, 
and  would  rather  have  its  shoes  mended  by  the  veriest  botch 
of  a  professional  than  by  the  cleverest  amateur  that  ever 
studied  a  Greek  sandal. 

''Is  it  not  strange,  Nelly,  that  Brydges  and  Bowes  won't 
take  those  songs  of  mine?"  said  he,  one  morning,  as  the 
post  brought  him  several  letters.  "They  say  they  are  very 
pretty,  and  the  accompaniments  full  of  taste,  but  so  evi- 
dently wanting  in  originality  —  such  palpable  imitations  of 


294  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

Gordigiani  and  Mariani  —  they  would  meet  no  success.  1 
ask  you,  Nelly,  am  I  the  man  to  pilfer  from  any  one?  Is 
it  likely  I  would  trade  on  another  man's  intellect?" 

"That  you  certainly  are  not,  Gusty!  but  remember  who 
it  is  that  utters  this  criticism.  The  man  who  has  no  other 
test  of  goodness  but  a  ready  sale,  and  he  sees  in  this  case 
little  hope  of  such." 

"Rankin,  too,  refuses  my  Ghost  Story;'  he  calls  it  too 
German,  whatever  that  may  mean." 

"It  means  simply  that  he  wants  to  say  something,  and  is 
not  very  clear  what  it  ought  to  be.  And  your  water-color 
sketch,  —  the  '  Street  in  Bruges  '  ?  " 

"Worst  of  all,"  cried  he,  interrupting.  "Dinetti,  with 
whom  I  have  squandered  hundreds  for  prints  and  drawings, 
sends  it  back  with  these  words  in  red  chalk  on  the  back : 
'  No  distance ;  no  transparency ;  general  muddiness  —  a 
bad  imitation  of  Prout's  worst  manner.'" 
"How  unmannerly,  how  coarse!" 

"Yes;  these  purveyors  to  the  world's  taste  don't  mince 
matters  with  their  journeymen.  They  remind  them  pretty 
plainly  of  their  shortcomings;  but  considering  how  much 
of  pure  opinion  must  enter  into  these  things,  they  might 
have  uttered  their  judgments  with  more  diffidence." 

"  They  may  not  always  know  what  is  best,  Gusty ;  but  I 
take  it,  they  can  guess  very  correctly  as  to  what  the  public 
will  think  best." 

"How  humiliating  it  makes  labor  when  one  has  to  work 
to  please  a  popular  taste!  I  always  had  fancied  that  the 
author  or  the  painter  or  the  musician  stood  on  a  -sort  of 
pedestal,  to  the  foot  of  which  came  the  publisher,  entreating 
that  he  might  be  permitted  to  catch  the  utterings  of  genius, 
and  become  the  channel  through  which  they  should  flow  into 
an  expectant  world;  and  now  I  see  it  is  the  music-seller 
or  the  print-seller  is  on  the  pedestal,  and  the  man  of  genius 
kneels  at  his  feet  and  prays  to  be  patronized." 

"I  am  sure.  Gusty,"  said  she,  drawing  her  arm  within 
his,  as  he  stood  at  the  window,  —  "  I  am  sure  we  must  have 
friends  who  would  find  you  some  employment  in  the  public 
service  that  you  would  not  dislike,  and  you  would  even  take 
interest  in.     Let  us  see  first  what  we  could  ask  for." 


AT  LOUVAIN.  295 

"No;  first  let  us  think  of  whom  we  could  ask  for  it." 

"Well,  be  it  so.  There  is  Sir  Francis  Deighton;  isn't 
he  a  Cabinet  Minister?" 

"Yes.  My  father  gave  him  his  first  rise  in  life;  but  I  'm 
not  sure  they  kept  up  much  intimacy  later  on." 

"I'll  write  to  him,  Gusty;  he  has  all  the  Colonial  patron- 
age, and  could  easily  make  you  governor  of  something  to- 
morrow.    Say  'yes; '  tell  me  I  may  write  to  him." 

"It's  not  a  pleasant  task  to  assign  you,  dear  Nelly," 
said  he,  with  a  sad  smile;  "and  yet  I  feel  you  will  do  it 
better  than  I  should." 

"I  shall  write,"  said  she,  boldly,  "with  the  full  assurance 
that  Sir  Francis  will  be  well  pleased  to  have  an  opportunity 
to  serve  the  son  of  an  old  friend  and  benefactor." 

"Perhaps  it  is  that  my  late  defeats  have  made  me 
cowardly  — but  I  own,  Nelly,  I  am  less  than  hopeful  of 
success." 

"And  I  am  full  of  confidence.  Shall  I  show  you  my 
letter  when  I  have  written  it?" 

"  Better  not,  Nelly.  I  might  begin  to  question  the  pru- 
dence of  this,  or  the  taste  of  that,  and  end  by  asking  you 
to  suppress  it  all.  Do  what  you  like,  then,  and  in  your 
own  way." 

Nelly  was  not  sorry  to  obtain  permission  to  act  free  of 
all  trammels,  and  went  off  to  her  room  to  write  her  letter. 
It  was  not  till  after  many  attempts  that  she  succeeded  in 
framing  an  epistle  to  her  satisfaction.  She  did  not  wish  — • 
w^hile  reminding  Sir  Francis  of  whom  it  was  she  was  speak- 
ing —  to  recall  to  him  any  unpleasant  sentiment  of  an  old 
obligation;  she  simply  adverted  to  her  father's  long  friend- 
ship for  him,  but  dropped  no  hint  of  his  once  patronage. 
She  spoke  of  their  reverse  in  fortune  with  dignity,  and  in 
the  spirit  of  one  who  could  declare  proudly  that  their 
decline  in  station  involved  no  loss  of  honor,  and  she  asked 
that  some  employment  might  be  bestowed  on  her  brother, 
as  upon  one  well  deserving  of  such  a  charge. 

"I  hope  there  is  nothing  of  the  suppliant  in  all  this?  I 
hope  it  is  such  a  note  as  Gusty  would  have  anproved  of, 
and  that  my  eagerness  to  succeed  has  involved  me  in  no 
undue  humility."     Again  and  again  she  read  it  over;  revis- 


296  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

ing  this,  and  changing  that,  till  at  length  grown  impatient, 
she  folded  it  up  and  addressed  it,  saying  aloud,  "There!  it 
is  in  the  chance  humor  of  him  who  reads,  not  in  the  skill 
of  the  writer,  lies  the  luck  of  such  epistles." 

"You  forgot  to  call  him  Right  Honorable,  Nelly,"  said 
Augustus,    as  he  looked  at  the  superscription. 

"I'm  afraid  I've  forgotten  more  than  that,  Gusty;  but 
let  us  hope  for  the  best." 

"What  did  you  ask  for?" 

"Anything  —  whatever  he  can  give  you,  and  is  disposed 
to  give,  I  've  said.  We  are  in  that  category  where  the 
proverb  says  —  there  is  no  choice." 

"I  'd  not  have  said  that,  Nelly." 

"  I  know  that,  and  it  is  precisely  on  that  account  that  I 
said  it  for  you.  Remember,  Gusty,  you  changed  our  last 
fifty  pounds  in  the  world  yesterday." 

"That 's  true,"  said  he,  sitting  down  near  the  table,  and 
covering  his  face  with  both  hands. 

"There's  a  gentleman  below  stairs,  madam,  wishes  to 
know  if  he  could  see  Mr.  Bramleigh,"  said  the  landlady, 
entering  the  room. 

"Do  you  know  his  name?"  said  Nelly,  seeing  that  as 
her  brother  paid  no  attention  to  the  announcement,  it  might 
be  as  well  not  to  admit  a  visitor. 

"This  is  his  card,  madam." 

"Mr.  Cutbill!"  said  Nelly,  reading  aloud.  "Gusty," 
added  she,  bending  over  him,  and  whispering  in  his  ear, 
"would  you  see  Mr.   Cutbill?" 

"I  don't  care  to  see  him,"  muttered  he,  and  then  rising, 
he  added,  "Well,  let  him  come  up;  but  mind,  Nell}^,  we 
must  on  no  account  ask  him  to  stay  and  dine  with  us." 

She  nodded  assent,  and  the  landlady  retired  to  introduce 
the  stranger. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

MR.    CUTBILL's    visit. 

"If  you  knew  the  work  I  had  to  find  you,"  said  Mr.  Cutbill, 
entering  the  room,  and  throwing  his  hat  carelessly  on  a 
table.  "I  had  the  whole  police  at  work  to  look  you  up, 
and  only  succeeded  at  last  by  the  half-hint  that  you  were  a 
great  political  offender,  and  Lord  Palmerston  would  never 
forgive  the  authorities  if  they  concealed  you." 

"I  declare,"  said  Augustus,  gravely,  "I  am  much  flat- 
tered by  all  the  trouble  you,  have  taken  to  blacken  my 
character. " 

"Character!  bless  your  heart,  so  long  as  you  ain't  a 
Frenchman,  these  people  don't  care  about  your  character. 
An  English  conspirator  is  the  most  harmless  of  all  crea- 
tures. Had  you  been  a  Pole  or  an  Italian,  the  pre'fet  told 
me,   he'd  have  known  every  act  of  your  daily  life." 

"And  so  we  shall  have  to  leave  this,  now?  "  said  Ellen, 
with  some  vexation  in  her  tone. 

"Not  a  bit  of  it,  if  you  don't  dislike  the  surveillance 
they  '11  bestow  on  you;  and  it  '11  be  the  very  best  protection 
against  rogues  and  pickpockets;  and  I'll  go  and  say  that 
you're  not  the  man  I  suspected  at  all." 

"Pray  take  no  further  trouble  on  our  behalf,  sir,"  said 
Bramleigh,   stiffly  and  haughtily. 

"  Which  being  interpreted  means  —  make  your  visit  as 
short  as  may  be,  and  go  your  way,  Tom  Cutbill;  don't  it?" 

"I  am  not  prepared  to  say,  sir,  that  I  have  yet  guessed 
the  object  of  your  coming." 

"If  you  go  to  that,  I  suspect  I  '11  be  as  much  puzzled  as 
yourself.  I  came  to  see  you  because  I  heard  you  were  in 
my    neighborhood.     I  don't  think  I  had    any    other   very 


298  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

pressing  reason.  I  had  to  decamp  from  England  somewhat 
hurriedfy,  and  I  came  over  here  to  be,  as  they  call  it,  'out 
of  the  way,'  till  this  storm  blows  over." 

"What  storm?     I  've  heard  nothing  of  a  storm." 
"You  've.not  heard  that  the  Lisconnor  scheme  has  blown 
up? —  the  great   Culduff    Mining    Company  has    exploded, 
and  blown  all  the  shareholders  sky-high?" 
"Not  a  word  of  it." 

"Why,  there  's  more  writs  after  the  promoters  this  morn- 
ing than  ever  there  was  scrip  for  paid-up  capital.  We  're 
all  in  for  it  —  every  man  of  us." 

"Was  it  a  mere  bubble,  then,  —  a  fraud? " 
"I  don't  know  what  you  call  a  bubble,  or  what  you  mean 
by  a  fraud.  We  had  all  that  constitutes  a  company:  w^e 
had  a  scheme,  and  we  had  a  lord.  If  an  over-greedy  public 
wants  grandeur  and  gain  besides,  it  must  be  disappointed; 
as  I  told  the  general  meeting,  'You  don't  expect  profit  as 
well  as  the  peerage,  do  you? 

"You  yourself  told  me  there  was  coal." 
"  So  there  was.  I  am  ready  to  maintain  it  still.  Is  n't 
that  money,  Bramleigh?"  said  he,  taking  a  handful  of 
silver  from  his  pocket;  "good  coin  of  the  realm,  with  her 
Majesty's  image?  But  if  you  asked  me  if  there  was  much 
more  where  it  came  from  —  why,  the  witness  might,  as  the 
newspapers  say,  hesitate  and  show  confusion." 

"You  mean,  then,  in  short,  there  was  only  coal  enough 
to  form  a  pretext  for  a  company?" 

"I  tell  you  what  I  mean,"  said  Cutbill,  sturdily.  "I 
bolted  from  London  rather  than  be  stuck  in  a  witness-box 
and  badgered  by  a  cross-examining  barrister,  and  I  'm  not 
going  to  expose  myself  to  the  same  sort  of  diversion  here 
from  you." 

"I  assure  you,  sir,  the  matter  had  no  interest  for  me, 
beyond  the  opportunity  it  afforded  you  of  exculpation." 

"For  the  exculpatory  part,  I  can  take  it  easy,"  said 
Cutbill,  with  a  dry  laugh.  "  I  wish  I  had  nothing  heavier 
on  my  heart  than  the  load  of  my  conscience;  but  I  've  been 
signing  my  name  to  deeds,  and  writing  Tom  Cutbill  across 
acceptances,  in  a  sort  of  indiscriminate  way,  that  in  the 
calmer  hours  before  a  Commissioner  in  Bankruptcy  ain't 


MR.  CUTBILL'S   VISIT.  299 

so  pleasant.     I  must   say,  Bramleigh,  your  distinguished 
relative,  Culduff,  doesn't  cut  up  well." 

"I  think,  Mr.  Cutbill,  if  you  have  any  complaint  to  make 
of  Lord  Culduff,  you  might  have  chosen  a  more  fitting 
auditor  than  his  brother-in-law." 

"  I  thought  the  world  had  outgrown  the  cant  of  connec- 
tion. I  thought  that  we  had  got  to  be  so  widely-minded 
that  you  might  talk  to  a  man  about  his  sister  as  freely  as 
if  she  were  the  Queen  of  Sheba." 

"Pray  do  me  the  favor  to  believe  me  still  a  bigot,  sir." 

"How  far  is  Lord  Culduff  involved  in  the  mishap  you 
speak  of,  Mr.  Cutbill?"  said  Nelly,  with  a  courteousness 
of  tone  she  hoped  might  restore  their  guest  to  a  better 
humor. 

"I  think  he  '11  net  some  five-and-twenty  thousand  out  of 
the  transaction;  and  from  what  I  know  of  the  distinguished 
Viscount,  he  '11  not  lie  awake  at  night  fretting  over  the 
misfortunes  of  Tom  Cutbill  and  fellows." 

"Will  this  — this  misadventure,"  stammered  out  Augus- 
tus,  "  prevent  your  return  to  England  ?  " 

"Only  for  a  season.  A  man  lies  by  for  these  things,  just 
as  he  does  for  a  thunderstorm ;  a  little  patience,  and  the  sun 
shines  out,  and  he  walks  about  freely  as  ever.  If  it  were 
not,  besides,  for  this  sort  of  thing,  we  City  men  would 
never  have  a  day's  recreation  in  life;  nothing  but  work, 
work,  from  morning  till  night.  How  many  of  us  would 
see  Switzerland,  I  ask  you,  if  we  didn't  smash?  The 
Insolvent  Court  is  the  way  to  the  Rhine,  Bramleigh,  take 
my  word  for  it,  though  it  ain't  set  down  in  John  Murray." 

"If  a  light  heart  could  help  to  a  light  conscience,  I  must 
say,  Mr.  Cutbill,  you  would  appear  to  possess  that  enviable 
lot." 

"There  's  such  a  thing  as  a  very  small  conscience,"  said 
Cutbill,  closing  one  eye,  and  looking  intensely  roguish. 
"  A  conscience  so  unobtrusive  that  one  can  treat  it  like  a 
poor  relation,   and  put  it  anywhere." 

"Oh,  Mr.  Cutbill,  you  shock  me,"  said  Ellen,  trying  to 
look  reproachful  and  grave. 

"I  'm  sorry  for  it.  Miss  Bramleigh,"  said  he,  with  mock 
sorrow  in  his  manner. 


300  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  Had  not  our  friend  L'Estrange  an  interest  in  this  mi" 
fortunate  speculation?"  asked  Bramleigh. 

'^  A  trifle,  —  a  mere  trifle.  Two  thousand  I  think  it  was. 
Two,  or  two-five-hundred.     I  forget  exactly  which." 

"And  is  this  entirely  lost?  " 

"Well,  pretty  much  the  same;  they  talk  of  sevenpence 
dividend,  but  I  suspect  they  're  over-sanguine.  I  'd  say 
five  was  nearer  the  mark. " 

"Do  they  know  the  extent  of  their  misfortune?"  asked 
Ellen,   eagerly. 

"If  they  read  the  'Times  '  they  're  sure  to  see  it.  The 
money  article  is  awfully  candid,  and  never  attempts  any 
delicate  concealment  like  the  reports  in  a  police-court.  The 
fact  is.  Miss  Bramleigh,  the  financial  people  always  end 
like  Cremorne,  with  a  'grand  transparency  '  that  displays 
the  whole  company !  " 

"I  'm  so  sorry  for  the  L'Estranges,"  said  Ellen,  feelingly. 

"And  why  not  sorry  for  Tom  Cutbill,  miss?  Why  have 
no  compassion  for  that  gifted  creature  and  generous  mortal, 
whose  worst  fault  was  that  he  believed  in  a  lord?" 

"  Mr.  Cutbill  is  so  sure  to  sympathize  with  himself  and 
his  own  griefs  that  he  has  no  need  of  me;  and  then  he 
looks  so  like  one  that  would  have  recuperative  powers." 

"There,  you  've  hit  it,"  cried  he,  enthusiastically. 
"'That 's  it!  that 's  what  makes  Tom  Cutbill  the  man  he  is, 
— flectes  non  frangis.  I  hope  I  have  it  right ;  but  I  mean 
you  may  smooth  him  down,  but  you  can't  smash  him;  and 
it 's  to  tell  the  noble  Viscount  as  much  I  'm  now  on  my  way 
to  Italy.  I'll  say  to  the  distinguished  peer,  'I'm  only  a 
pawn  on  the  chess-board ;  but  look  to  it,  my  Lord,  or  I  '11 
give  check  to  the  king!  '  Won't  he  understand  me?  ay, 
in  a  second,   too!  " 

"I  trust  something  can  be  done  for  poor  L'Estrange," 
said  Augustus.  "It  was  his  sister's  fortune;  and  the 
whole  of  it,  too." 

"  Leave  that  to  me,  then.  I  '11  make  better  terms  for  him 
than  he  '11  get  by  the  assignee  under  the  court.  Bless  your 
heart,  Bramleigh,  if  it  was  n't  for  a  little  'extramural 
equity,'  as  one  might  call  it,  it  would  go  very  hard  with 
the  widow  and  the  orphan  in  this  world;  but  we,  coarse* 


MR.   CUTBILL'S  VISIT.  801 

minded  fellows,  as  I  've  no  doubt  you  'd  call  us,  we  do 
kinder  things  in  our  own  way  than  commissioners  under 
the  act." 

"  Can  you  recover  the  money  for  them?  "  asked  Augustus, 
earnestly.     "  Can  you  do  that  ?  " 

"Not  legally  —  not  a  chance  of  it;  but  I  think  I  '11  make 
a  noble  lord  of  our  acquaintance  disgorge  something  hand- 
some. I  don't  mean  to  press  any  claim  of  my  own.  If  he 
behaves  politely,  and  asks  me  to  dine,  and  treats  me  like 
a  gentleman,  I  '11  not  be  over  hard  with  him.  I  like  the  — 
not  the  conveniences  — that 's  not  the  word,  but  the " 

"'Convenances,'  perhaps,"  interposed  Ellen. 

"That 's  it  —  the  convenances.  I  like  the  attentions  that 
seem  to  say,  'T.  C.  is  n't  to  be  kept  in  a  tunnel  or  a  cutting, 
but  is  good  company  at  table,  with  long-necked  bottles 
beside  him.  T.  C.  can  be  talked  to  about  the  world  : 
about  pale  sherry,  and  pretty  women,  and  the  delights  of 
Homburg,  and  the  odds  on  the  Derby;  he's  as  much  at 
home  at  Belgravia  as  on  an  embankment.'  " 

"I  suspect  there  will  be  few  to  dispute  that,"  said 
Augustus,   solemnly. 

"Not  when  they  knows  it,  Bramleigh;  *not  when  they 
knows  it,'  as  the  cabbies  say.  The  thing  is  to  make  them 
know  it,  to  make  them  feel  it.  There  's  a  rough-and-ready 
way  of  putting  all  men  like  myself,  who  take  liberties  with 
the  letter  H,  down  as  snobs;  but  you  see  there  's  snobs  and 
snobs.  There's  snobs  that  are  only  snobs;  there's  snobs 
that  have  nothing  distinctive  about  them  but  their  snob- 
bery, and  there  's  snobs  so  well  up  in  life,  so  shrewd,  such 
downright  keen  men  of  the  world,  that  their  snobbery  is 
only  an  accident,  like  a  splash  from  a  passing  'bus;  and, 
in  fact,  their  snobbery  puts  a  sort  of  accent  on  their  acute- 
ness,  just  like  a  trade-mark,  and  tells  you  it  was  town- 
made —  no  bad  thing,  Bramleigh,  when  that  town  calls 
itself  London !  " 

If  Augustus  vouchsafed  little  approval  of  this  speech, 
Ellen  smiled  an  apparent  concurrence,  while  in  reality  it 
was  the  man's  pretension  and  assurance  that  amused  her. 

"You  ain't  as  jolly  as  you  used  to  be;  how  is  that?" 
said  Cutbill,  shaking  Bramleigh  jocosely  by  the  arm.     "I 


302  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

suspect  3^ou  are  disposed,  like  Jeremiah,  to  a  melancholy 
line  of  life?  " 

"I  was  not  aware,  sir,  that  my  spirits  could  be  matter  of 
remark,"  said  Augustus,  haughtily. 

"And  why  not?  You're  no  highness,  royal  or  serene, 
that  one  is  obliged  to  accept  any  humor  you  may  be  in,  as 
the  right  thing.     You  are  one  of  us,   I  take  it." 

"A  very  proud  distinction,"  said  he,  gravely. 

"Well,  if  it's  nothing  to  crow,  it's  nothing  to  cry  for! 
If  the  world  had  nothing  but  top-sawyers,  Bramleigh,  there 
would  be  precious  little  work  done.  Is  that  clock  of  yours, 
yonder,  right  —  is  it  so  late  as  that?" 

"I  believe  so,"  said  Augustus,  looking  at  his  watch.  "I 
want  exactly  ten  minutes  to  four." 

"And  the  train  starts  at  four  precisely.  That 's  so  like 
me.  I  've  lost  my  train,  all  for  the  sake  of  paying  a  visit 
to  people  who  wished  me  at  the  North  Pole  for  my 
politeness." 

"Oh,  Mr.  Cutbill,"  said  Ellen,  deprecatingly. 

"I  hope,  Mr.  Cutbill,  we  are  fully  sensible  of  the  courtesy 
that  suggested  your  call." 

"And  I'm  fully  sensible  that  you  and  Miss  Ellen  have 
been  on  thorns  for  the  last  half-hour,  each  muttering  to 
himself,  'What  will  he  say  next?  '  or  worse  than  that,  'When 
will  he  go?  '  " 

"I  protest,  sir,  you  are  alike  unjust  to  yourself  and  to  us. 
We  are  so  thoroughly  satisfied  that  you  never  intended  to 
hurt  us,  that  if  incidentally  touched,  we  take  it  as  a  mere 
accident." 

"That  is  quite  the  case,  Mr.  Cutbill,"  broke  in  Nelly; 
"and  we  know,  besides,  that,  if  you  had  anything  harsh  or 
severe  to  say  to  us,  it  is  not  likely  you  'd  take  such  a  time 
as  this  to  say  it." 

"Y^ou  do  me  proud,  ma'am,"  said  Cutbill,  who  was  not 
quite  sure  whether  he  was  complimented  or  reprimanded. 

"Do,  please,  Augustus;  I  beg  of  you,  do,"  whispered 
Nelly  in  her  brother's  ear. 

"You  've  already  missed  your  train  for  us,  Mr.  Cutbill," 
said  Augustus;  "will  jou  add  another  sacrifice  and  come 
and  eat  a  very  humble  dinner  with  us  at  six  o'clock?" 


MR.   CUTBILL'S  VISIT.  303 

"Will  I?  I  rayther  think  I  will,"  cried  he,  joyfully. 
"Now  that  the  crisis  is  over,  I  may  as  well  tell  you  I  've 
been  angling  for  that  invitation  for  the  last  half-hour,  say- 
ing every  minute  to  myself,  'Now  it  ""s  coming,'  or  'No,  it 
ain't.'  Twice  you  were  on  the  brink  of  it,  Bramleigh,  and 
you  drifted  away  again,  and  at  last  1  began  to  think  I  'd  be 
driven  to  my  lonely  cutlet  at  the  'Leopold's  Arms.'  You 
said  six;  so  I'll  just  finish  a  couple  of  letters  for  the  post, 
and  be  here  sharp.  Good-bye.  Many  thanks  for  the 
invite,  though  it  was  pretty  long  a-coming."  And  with 
this  he  waved  an  adieu  and  departed. 


CHAPTER   XXXVI. 

AN    EVENING    WITH    CUTBILL. 

When  Nelly  retired  after  dinner  on  that  day,  leaving  Mr. 
Cutbill  to  the  enjoyment  of  his  wine  —  an  indulgence  she 
well  knew  he  would  not  willingly  forego  —  that  worthy 
individual  drew  one  chair  to  his  side  to  support  his  arm, 
and  resting  his  legs  on  another,  exclaimed,  "Now,  this  is 
what  I  call  cosy.  There  's  a  pleasant  light,  a  nice  bit  of 
view  out  of  that  window,  and  as  good  a  bottle  of  St.  Julieu 
as  a  man  may  desire." 

"I  wish  I  could  offer  you  something  better,"  began 
Augustus,  but  Cutbill  stopped  him  at  once,  saying,  — 

"Taking  the  time  of  the  year  into  account,  there  's  noth- 
ing better!  It's  not  the  season  for  a  Burgundy  or  even  a 
full-bodied  claret.  Shall  I  tell  you,  Bramleigh,  that  you 
gave  me  a  better  dinner  to-day  than  I  got  at  your  great 
house, — the  Bishop's  Folly?" 

"We  were  very  vain  of  our  cook,  notwithstanding,  in 
those  days,"  said  Augustus,   smiling. 

"So  you  might.  I  suppose  he  was  as  good  as  money 
could  buy  —  and  you  had  plenty  of  money.  But  your 
dinners  were  grand,  cumbrous,  never-ending  feeds,  that 
with  all  the  care  a  man  might  bestow  on  the  bill  o'  fare,  he 
was  sure  to  eat  too  much  of  venison  curry  after  he  had 
taken  mutton  twice,  and  pheasant  following  after  fat 
chickens.  I  always  thought  your  big  dinners  were  upside 
down;  if  one  could  have  had  the  tail-end  first  they'd  have 
been  excellent.  Somehow,  I  fancy  it  was  only  your  brother 
Temple  took  an  interest  in  these  things  at  your  house. 
Where  is  he  now?" 

"He  's  at  Rome  with  my  brother-in-law." 


AN  EVENING   WITH   CUTBILL.  305 

"That 's  exactly  the  company  he  ought  to  keep.  A  lord 
purifies  the  air  for  him,  and  I  don't  think  his  constitution 
could  stand  without  one." 

"My  brother  has  seen  a  good  deal  of  the  world;  and,  I 
think,  understands  it  tolerably  well,"  said  Bramleigh,  mean- 
ing so  much  of  rebuke  to  the  other's  impertinence  as  he 
could  force  himself  to  bestow  on  a  guest. 

"He  knows  as  much  about  life  as  a  dog  knows  about 
decimals.  He  knows  the  cad's  life  of  fetch  and  carry;  how 
to  bow  himself  into  a  room  and  out  again ;  when  to  smile, 
and  when  to  snigger;  how  to  look  profound  when  a  great 
man  talks,  and  a  mild  despair  when  he  is  silent ;  but  that 
ain't  life,  Bramleigh,  any  more  than  these  strawberries  are 
grapes  from  Fontainebleau !  " 

"You  occasionally  forget,  Mr.  Cutbill,  that  a  man's 
brother  is  not  exactly  the  public." 

"Perhaps  I  do.  I  only  had  one  brother,  and  a  greater 
blackguard  never  existed ;  and  the  '  Times  '  took  care  to 
remind  me  of  the  fact  every  year  till  he  was  transported ; 
but  no  one  ever  saw  me  lose  temper  about  it." 

"I  can  admire  if  I  cannot  envy  your  philosophy." 

"It's  not  philosophy  at  all;  it's  just  common  sense, 
learned  in  the  only  school  for  that  commodity  in  Europe,  — 
the  City  of  London.  We  don't  make  Latin  verses  as  well 
as  you  at  Eton  or  Rugby,  but  we  begin  life  somewhat 
'cuter  than  you,  notwithstanding.  If  we  speculate  on 
events,  it  is  not  like  theoretical  politicians,  but  like  prac- 
tical people,  who  know  that  Cabinet  Councils  decide  the 
funds,  and  the  funds  make  fortunes.  You,  and  the  men 
like  you,  advocated  a  free  Greece  and  a  united  Italy  for 
sake  of  fine  traditions.  We  don't  care  a  rush  about  Homer 
or  Dante,  but  we  want  to  sell  pig-iron  and  printed  calicoes. 
Do  you  see  the  difference  now?" 

"If  I  do,  it's  with  no  shame  for  the  part  you  assign 
us." 

"That's  as  it  may  be.  There  may  be  up  there  amongst 
the  stars  a  planet  where  your  ideas  would  be  the  right  thing. 
Maybe  Doctor  Cumming  knows  of  such  a  place.  I  can 
only  say  Tom  Cutbill  doesn't,   nor  don't  want  to." 

For  a  while  neither  spoke  a  word ;  the  conversation  had 

20 


306  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

taken  a  half-irritable  tone,  and  it  was  not  easy  to  say  how 
it  was  to  be  turned  into  a  pleasanter  channel. 

"Any  news  of  Jack?"  asked  Cutbill,  suddenly. 

"Nothing  since  he  sailed." 

Another  and  a  longer  pause  ensued,  and  it  was  evident 
neither  knew  how  to  break  the  silence. 

"These  ain't  bad  cigars,"  said  Cutbill,  knocking  the  ash 
off  his  cheroot  with  his  finger.     "You  get  them  here? " 

"Yes;  they  are  very  cheap." 

"Thirty,  or  thirty-five  centimes?" 

"Ten!" 

"Well,  it  ain't  dear!  Ten  centimes  is  a  penny  —  a  trifle 
less  than  a  peun3^  And  now,  Bramleigh,  will  you  think  it 
a  great  liberty  of  me,  if  I  ask  you  a  question,  —  a  sort  of 
personal  question  ?  " 

"That  will  pretty  much  depend  upon  the  question,  Mr. 
Cutbill.  There  are  matters,  I  must  confess,  I  would  rather 
not  be  questioned  on." 

"Well,  I  suppose  I  must  take  my  chance  for  that!  If 
you  are  disposed  to  bristle  up,  and  play  porcupine  because 
I  want  to  approach  you,  it  can't  be  helped  —  better  men 
than  Tom  Cutbill  have  paid  for  looking  into  a  wasp's  nest. 
It 's  no  idle  curiosity  prompts  my  inquiry,  though  I  won't 
deny  there  is  a  spice  of  curiosity  urging  me  on  at  this 
moment.     Am  I  free  to  go  on,   eh  ?  " 

"I  must  leave  you  to  your  own  discretion,  sir." 

"The  devil  a  worse  guide  ever  you  'd  leave  me  to.  It  is 
about  as  humble  a  member  of  the  Cutbill  family  as  I  'm 
acquainted  with.  So  that  without  any  reference  to  my  dis- 
cretion at  all,  here  's  what  I  want.  I  want  to  know  how  it 
is  that  you  've  left  a  princely  house,  with  plenty  of  servants 
and  all  the  luxuries  of  life,  to  come  and  live  in  a  shabby 
corner  of  an  obscure  town  and  smoke  penny  cigars  ?  There  's 
the  riddle  I  want  you  to  solve  for  me." 

For  some  seconds  Bramleigh' s  confusion  and  displeasure 
seemed  to  master  him  completely,  making  all  reply  impos- 
sible ;  but  at  last  he  regained  a  degree  of  calm,  and  with  a 
voice  slightly  agitated,  said,  "I  am  sorry  to  balk  your 
very  natural  curiosity,  Mr.  Cutbill,  but  the  matter  on 
which  you  seek  to  be  informed  is  one  strictly  personal 
and  private." 


AN   EVENING  WITH  CUTBILL.  307 

^'That's  exactly  why  I'm  pushing  for  the  explanation," 
resumed  the  other,  with  the  coolest  imaginable  manner. 
"If  it  was  a  public  event  I  'd  have  no  need  to  ask  to  be 
enlightened." 

Bramleigh  winced  under  this  rejoinder,  and  a  slight  con- 
tortion of  the  face  showed  what  his  self-control  was  costing 
him. 

Cutbill,  however,  went  on,  "When  they  told  me,  at  the 
Gresham,  that  there  was  a  man  setting  up  a  claim  to  your 
property,  and  that  you  declared  you  'd  not  live  in  the  house, 
nor  draw  a  shilling  from  the  estate,  till  you  were  well 
assured  it  was  your  own  beyond  dispute,  my  answer  was, 
'No  son  of  old  Montague  Bramleigh  ever  said  that.  What- 
ever you  may  say  of  that  family,  they  're  no  fools.'  " 

"  And  is  it  with  fools  you  would  class  the  man  who  rea- 
soned in  this  fashion?  "  said  Augustus,  who  tried  to  smile 
and  seem  indifferent  as  he  spoke. 

"First  of  all,  it's  not  reasoning  at  all;  the  man  who 
began  to  doubt  whether  he  had  a  valid  right  to  what  he  pos- 
sessed might  doubt  whether  he  had  a  right  to  his  own  name 
—  whether  his  wife  was  his  own,  and  what  not.  Don't 
you  see  where  all  this  would  lead  to?  If  I  have  to  report 
whether  a  new  line  is  safe  and  fit  to  be  opened  for  public 
traffic,  I  don't  sink  shafts  down  to  see  if  some  hundred 
fathoms  below  there  might  be  an  extinct  volcano,  or  a 
stratum  of  unsound  pudding-stone.  I  only  want  to  know 
that  the  rails  will  carry  so  many  tons  of  merchandise.  Do 
you  see  my  point?  —  do  you  take  me,  Bramleigh?" 

"Mr.  Cutbill,"  said  Augustus,  slowly,  "on  matters  such 
as  these  you  have  just  alluded  to  there  is  no  man's  opinion 
I  should  prefer  to  yours,  but  there  are  other  questions  on 
which  I  would  rather  rely  upon  my  own  judgment.  May  I 
beg,  therefore,  that  we  should  turn  to  some  other  topic." 

"It's  true,  then  —  the  report  was  well-founded?"  cried 
Cutbill,  staring  in  wild  astonishment  at  the  other's  face. 

"And  if  it  were,  sir,"  said  Bramleigh,  haughtily,  "what 
then?" 

"What  then?  Simply  that  you'd  be  the  —  no  matter 
what.  Your  father  was  very  angry  with  me  one  night, 
because  I  said  something  of  the  same  kind  to  him." 


308  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

And  as  he  spoke  he  pushed  his  glass  impatiently  from 
him,  and  looked  inefifably  annoyed  and  disgusted. 

"Will  you  not  take  more  wine,  Mr.  Cutbill?  "  said 
Augustus,  blandly,  and  without  the  faintest  sign  of  irri- 
tation. 

"No;  not  a  drop.  I'm  sorry  I've  taken  so  much.  I 
began  by  filling  my  glass  whenever  I  saw  the  decanter  near 
me  —  thinking,  like  a  confounded  fool  as  I  was,  we  were 
in  for  a  quiet  confidential  talk,  and  knowing  that  I  was 
just  the  sort  of  fellow  a  man  of  your  own  stamp  needs  and 
requires ;  a  fellow  who  does  nothing  from  the  claims  of  a 
class  —  do  you  understand  ?  —  nothing  because  he  mixes 
with  a  certain  set  and  dines  at  a  certain  club;  but  acts 
independent  of  all  extraneous  pressure  —  a  bit  of  masonry, 
Bramleigh,  that  wants  no  buttress.    Can  you  follow  me,  eh?  " 

"  I  believe  I  can  appreciate  the  strength  of  such  a  charac- 
ter as  you  describe." 

"No,  you  can't,  not  a  bit  of  it.  Some  flighty  fool  that 
would  tell  you  what  a  fine  creature  you  were,  how  great- 
hearted—  that 's  the  cant,  great-hearted!  —  would  have  far 
more  of  your  esteem  and  admiration  than  Tom  Cutbill, 
with  his  keen  knowledge  of  life  and  his  thorough  insight 
into  men  and  manners." 

"You  are  unjust  to  each  of  us,"  said  Bramleigh,  quietly. 

"Well,  let  us  have  done  with  it.  I  '11  go  and  ask  Miss 
Ellen  for  a  cup  of  tea,  and  then  I  '11  take  my  leave.  I  'm 
sure  I  wish  I  'd  never  have  come  here.  It 's  enough  to 
provoke  a  better  temper  than  mine.  And  now  let  me  just 
ask  you,  out  of  mere  curiosity  —  for,  of  course,  I  must  n't 
presume  to  feel  more  —  but  just  out  of  curiosity  let  me  ask 
3^ou,  do  3^ou  know  an  art  or  an  industry,  a  trade  or  a  call- 
ing, that  would  bring  you  in  fifty  pounds  a  year?  Do  you 
see  your  way  to  earning  the  rent  of  a  lodging  even  as 
modest  as  this?" 

"  That  is  exactly  one  of  the  points  on  which  your  advice 
would  be  very  valuable  to  me,   Mr.   Cutbill." 

"Nothing  of  the  kind.  I  could  no  more  tell  a  man  of 
your  stamp  how  to  gain  his  livelihood  than  I  xjould  make  a 
tunnel  with  a  corkscrew.  I  know  your  theory  well  enough. 
I  've  heard  it  announced  a  thousand  times  and  more.    Every 


AN  EVENING   WITH  CUTBILL.  309 

fellow  with  a  silk  lining  to  his  coat  and  a  taste  for  fancy 
jewelry  imagines  he  has  only  to  go  to  Australia  to  make 
a  fortune ;  that  when  he  has  done  with  Bond  Street  he  can 
take  to  the  bush.  Isn't  that  it,  Bramleigh  —  eh?  You 
fancy  you  're  up  to  roughing  it  and  hard  work  because  you 
have  walked  four  hours  through  the  stubble  after  the  par- 
tridges, or  sat  a  'sharp  thing  '  across  country  in  a  red  coat! 
Heaven  help  you!  It  isn't  with  five  courses  and  finger- 
glasses  a  man  finishes  his  day  at  Warra-Warra. " 

''I  assure  you,  Mr.  Cutbill,  as  regards  my  own  case,  I 
neither  take  a  high  estimate  of  my  own  capacity  nor  a  low 
one  of  the  difficulty  of  earning  a  living." 

"Humility  never  paid  a  butcher's  bill,  any  more  than 
conceit!  "  retorted  the  inexorable  Cutbill,  who  seemed  bent 
on  opposing  everything.  "Have  you  thought  of  nothing 
you  could  do?  for,  if  you're  utterly  Incapable,  there's 
nothing  for  you  but  the  public  service." 

"Perhaps  that  is  the  career  would  best  suit  me,"  said 
Bramleigh,  smiling;  "and  I  have  already  written  to  bespeak 
the  kind  influence  of  an  old  friend  of  my  father's  on  my 
behalf." 

"Who  is  he ?^' 

"Sir  Francis  Deighton." 

"The  greatest  humbug  in  the  Government!  He  trades  on 
being  the  most  popular  man  of  his  day,  because  he  never 
refused  anything  to  anybody  —  so  far  as  a  promise  went; 
but  it 's  well  known  that  he  never  ga^ye  anything  out  of  his 
own  connections.  Don't  depend  on  Sir  Francis,  Bram- 
leigh,  whatever  you  do." 

"That  is  sorry  comfort  you  give  me." 

"Don't  you  know  any  women?  " 

"Women — women?     I  know  several." 

"I  mean  women  of  fashion.  Those  meddlesome  women 
that  are  always  dabbling  in  politics  and  the  Stock  Ex- 
change —  very  deep  where  you  think  they  know  nothing, 
and  perfectly  ignorant  about  what  they  pretend  to  know 
best.  They  've  two-thirds  of  the  patronage  of  every  gov- 
ernment in  England;  you  may  laugh,  but  it's  true," 

"Come,  Mr.  Cutbill,  if  you  '11  not  take  more  wine  we  '11 
join  my  sister,"  said  Bramleigh,  with  a  faint  smile. 


810  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

*'Get  them  to  make  you  a  Commissioner  —  it  doesn't 
matter  of  what  —  Woods  and  Forests  —  Bankruptcy  — 
Lunacy  — anything;  it's  always  two  thousand  a  year,  and 
little  to  do  for  it.  And  if  you  can't  be  a  Commissioner,  be 
an  Inspector,  and  then  you  have  your  travelling  expenses;  " 
and  Cutbill  winked  knowingly  as  he  spoke,  and  sauntered 
away  to  the  drawing-room. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

THE    APP0INT3IENT. 

'*What  will  Mr.  Cutbill  say  now?"  cried  Ellen,  as  she 
stood  leaning  on  her  brother's  shoulder,  while  he  read  a 
letter  marked  "On  Her  Majesty's  Service,"  and  sealed 
with  a  prodigious  extravagance  of  wax.     It  ran  thus:  — 

Downing  Street,  September  10th 
Sir,  _  I  have  received  instructions  from  Sir  Francis  Deighton, 
Her  Majesty's  Principal  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies,  to 
acknowledge  your  letter  of  the  9th  instant;  and  while  express- 
ing his  regret  that  he  has  not  at  this  moment  any  post  in  his  de- 
partment which  he  could  offer  for  your  acceptance,  to  state  that 
Her  Majesty's  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs  will  consent  to  ap- 
point you  consul  at  Cattaro,  full  details  of  which  post,  duties, 
salary,  &c.,  will  be  communicated  to  you  in  the  official  despatch 
from  the  Foreign  Office. 

Sir  Francis  Deighton  is  most  happy  to  have  beeo  the  means 
through  which  the  son  of  an  old  friend  has  been  introduced  into 
the  service  of  the  Crown. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir, 

Your  obedient  Servant, 

Grey  Egerton  D'Eyncourt, 
Private  Sec7-etary. 

"What  will  he  say  now,  Gusty?"  said  she,  triumphantly. 

"He  will  probably  say,  'What  's  it  worth?  '  Nelly. 
'How  much  is  the  income?'" 

"I  suppose  he  will.  I  take  it  he  will  measure  a  friend's 
good  feeling  towards  us  by  the  scale  of  an  official  salary, 
as  if  two  or  three  hundred  a  year  more  or  less  could  affect 
the  gratitude  we  must  feel  towards  a  real  patron." 

A  slight  twinge  of  pain  seemed  to  move  Bramleigh's 
mouth;  but  he  grew  calm  in  a  moment,  and  merely  said, 
"We  must  wait  till  we  hear  more." 


312  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY, 

"But  your  miud  is  at  ease,  Gust}^?  Tell  me  that  your 
anxieties  are  all  allayed?"    cried  she,   eagerly. 

*'Yes;  in  so  far  that  I  have  got  something,  — that  I  have 
not  met  a  cold  refusal." 

"Oh,  don't  take  it  that  way,"  broke  she  in,  looking  at 
him  with  a  half-reproachful  expression.  "Do  not,  I  beseech 
you,  let  Mr.  Cutbill's  spirit  influence  you.  Be  hoi^eful  and 
trustful,  as  you  always  were." 

"I  '11  try,"  said  he,  passing  his  arm  round  her,  and  smil- 
ing affectionately  at  her. 

"I  hope  he  has  gone,  Gusty.  I  do  hope  we  shall  not  see 
him  again.  He  is  so  terribly  hard  in  his  judgments,  so 
merciless  in  the  way  he  sentences  people  who  merely  think 
differently  from  himself.  After  hearing  him  talk  for  an 
hour  or  so,  I  always  go  away  with  the  thought  that  if  the 
world  be  only  half  as  bad  as  he  says  it  is,  it 's  little  worth 
living  in." 

""Well,  he  will  go  to-morrow,  or  Thursday  at  farthest; 
and  I  won't  pretend  I  shall  regret  him.  He  is  occasionally 
too  candid." 

"His  candor  is  simply  rudeness;  frankness  is  very  well 
for  a  friend,  but  he  was  never  in  the  position  to  use  this 
freedom.  Only  think  of  what  he  said  to  me  3^esterday:  he 
said  that  as  it  was  not  unlikely  I  should  have  to  turn  gov- 
erness or  companion,  the  first  thing  I  should  do  would  be 
to  change  my  name.  'They,'  he  remarked,  —  but  I  don't 
well  know  whom  he  exactly  meant,  —  'they  don't  like 
broken-down  gentlefolk.  They  suspect  them  of  this,  that, 
and  the  other;'  and  he  suggested  I  should  call  m^^self 
Miss  Cutbill.  Did  you  ever  hear  impertinence  equal  to 
that?" 

"But  it  may  have  been  kindly  intentioned,  Nelly.  I 
have  no  doubt  he  meant  to  do  a  good-natured  thing." 

"Save  me  from  good-nature  that  is  not  allied  with  good 
manners,  then,"  said  she,  growing  crimson  as  she  spoke. 

"I  have  not  escaped  scot-free,  I  assure  you,"  said  he, 
smiling;  "but  it  seems  to  me  a  man  really  never  knows 
what  the  world  thinks  of  him  till  he  has  gone  through  the 
ordeal  of  broken  fortune.  By  the  way,  where  is  Cattaro? 
the  name  sounds  Italian." 


THE   APPOINTMENT.  313 

"I  assumed  it  to  be  in  Italy  somewhere,  but  I  can't  tell 
you  why." 

Bramleigh  took  down  his  atlas,  and  pored  patiently  over 
Italy  and  her  outlying  islands  for  a  long  time,  but  in  vain. 
Nelly,  too,  aided  him  in  his  search,  but  to  no  purpose. 
While  they  were  still  bending  over  the  map,  Cutbill  entered 
with  a  large  despatch-shaped  letter  in  his  hand. 

"The  Queen's  messenger  has  just  handed  me  that  for 
you,  Bramleigh.     I  hope  it 's  good  news." 

Bramleigh  opened  and  read :  — 

"  Foreign  Office. 

"  Sir,  —  I  have  had  much  pleasure  in  submitting  your  name  to 
Her  Majesty  for  the  appointment  of  consul  at  Cattaro,  where  your 
salary  will  be  two  hundred  pounds  a  year,  and  twenty  pounds  for 
office  expenses.  You  will  repair  to  your  post  without  unnecessary 
delay,  and  report  your  arrival  to  this  department. 
"  I  am,  &c.,  &c., 

"  BiDDLESWORTH." 

*'Two  hundred  a  year!  Fifty  less  than  we  gave  our 
cook!"  said  Bramleigh,  with  a  faint  smile. 

"It  is  an  insult,  an  outrage,"  said  Nelly,  whose  face  and 
neck  glowed  till  they  appeared  crimson.  "I  hope,  Gusty, 
you'll  have  the  firmness  to  reject  such  an  offer." 

"What  does  Mr.  Cutbill  say?"  asked  he,  turning  towards 
him. 

"Mr.  Cutbill  says  that  if  you  're  bent  on  playing  Don 
Quixote,  and  won't  go  back  and  enjoy  what's  your  own, 
like  a  sensible  man,  this  pittance  —  it  ain't  more  —  is  better 
than  trying  to  eke  out  life  by  your  little  talents." 

Nelly  turned  her  large  eyes,  open  to  the  widest,  upon 
him,  as  he  spoke,  with  an  expression  so  palpably  that  of 
rebuke  for  his  freedom,  that  he  replied  to  her  stare  by 
saying, — 

"Of  course  I  am  very  free  and  easy.  More  than  that, 
I'm  downright  rude.  That's  what  you  mean  —  a  vulgar 
dog!  but  don't  you  see  that's  what  diminished  fortune 
must  bring  you  to?  You  '11  have  to  live  with  vulgar  dogs. 
It 's  not  only  coarse  cookery,  but  coarse  company  a  man 
comes  to.  Ay,  and  there  are  people  will  tell  you  that  both 
are  useful  —  as  alteratives,  as  the  doctors  call  them. " 


314  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

It  was  a  happy  accident  that  made  him  lengthen  out  the 
third  syllable  of  the  word,  which  amused  Nelly  so  much 
that  shfe  laughed  outright. 

"Can  you  tell  us  where  is  Cattaro,  Mr.  Cutbill?"  asked 
Bramleigh,  eager  that  the  other  should  not  notice  his  sister's 
laughter. 

"I  have  n't  the  faintest  notion;  but  Bollard,  the  messen- 
ger, is  eating  his  luncheon  at  the  station.  I  '11  run  down 
and  ask  him."  And  without  waiting  for  a  reply,  he  seized 
his  hat  and  hurried  away. 

"One  must  own  he  is  good-natured,"  said  Nell}^,  "but 
he  does  make  us  pay  somewhat  smartly  for  it.  His  whole- 
some truths  are  occasionally  hard  to  swallow." 

"As  he  told  us,  Nelly,  we  must  accept  these  things  as 
part  of  our  changed  condition.  Poverty  would  n't  be  such 
a  hard  thing  to  bear  if  it  only  meant  common  food  and 
coarse  clothing ;  but  it  implies  scores  of  things  that  are  far 
less  endurable." 

While  they  thus  talked,  Cutbill  had  hurried  down  to  the 
station,  and  just  caught  the  messenger  as  he  was  taking  his 
seat  in  the  train.  Two  others  —  one  bound  for  Russia  and 
one  for  Greece  —  were  already  seated  in  the  compartment, 
smoking  their  cigars  with  an  air  of  quiet  indolence,  like 
men  making  a  trip  by  a  river  steamer. 

"I  say.  Bollard,"  cried  Cutbill,  "where  is  Cattaro?" 

"Don't  know;  is  he  a  tenor?  " 

"It's  a  place;  a  consulate  somewhere  or  other." 

"Never  heard  of  it.     Have  you,  Digby?  " 

"It  sounds  like  Calabria,  or  farther  south." 

"I  know  it,"  said  the  third  man.  "It's  a  vile  hole;  it's 
on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Adriatic.  I  was  wrecked  there 
once  in  an  Austrian  Lloyd's  steamer,  and  caught  a  tertian 
fever  before  I  could  get  away.  There  was  a  fellow  there, 
a  vice-consul  they  called  him.  He  was  dressed  in  sheep- 
skins, and,  I  believe,  lived  by  wrecking.  He  stole  my 
watch,  and  would  have  carried  away  my  portmanteau,  but 
I  was  waiting  for  him  with  my  revolver,  and  winged  him." 

"Did  nothing  come  of  it?"  asked  another. 

"They  pensioned  him,  I  think.  I'm  not  sure;  but  I 
think  they  gave  him  twenty  pounds  a  year.     I  know  old 


THE   APPOINTMENT.  315 

Kepsley  stopped  eight  pounds  out  of  my  salary  for  a  wooden 
leg  for  the  rascal.  There's  the  whistle;  take  care,  sir, 
you  '11  come  to  grief  if  you  hang  on." 

Cutbill  attended  to  the  admonition,  and  bidding  the 
travellers  good-bye,  returned  slowly  to  the  Bramleighs' 
lodgings,  pondering  over  all  he  had  heard,  and  canvassing 
with  himself  how  much  of  his  unpleasant  tidings  he  would 
venture  to  relate. 

"Where's  your  map?'*  said  he,  entering.  "I  suspect  I 
can  make  out  the  place  now.  Show  me  the  Adriatic. 
Zara  —  Lissa  —  what  a  number  of  islands !  Here  you  are ; 
here  's  Bocca  di  Cattaro  —  next  door  to  the  Turks,  by 
Jove." 

"My  dear  Gusty,  don't  think  of  this,  I  beseech  you," 
said  Nelly,  whispering.  "It  is  enough  to  see  where  it  is, 
to  know  it  must  be  utter  barbarism." 

"I  won't  say  it  looks  inviting,"  said  Cutbill,  as  he  bent 
over  the  map,  "and  the  messenger  hadn't  much  to  say  in 
its  praise,  either." 

"Probably  not;  but  remember  what  you  told  me  awhile 
ago,  Mr.  Cutbill,  that  even  this  was  better  than  depending 
on  my  little  talents." 

"He  holds  little  talents  in  light  esteem,  then?"  said 
Ellen,    tartly. 

"That 's  exactly  what  I  do,"  rejoined  Cutbill,  quickly. 
"As  long  as  you  are  rich  enough  to  be  courted  for  your 
wealth,  your  little  talents  will  find  plenty  of  admirers ;  but 
as  to  earning  your  bread  by  them,  you  might  as  well  try  to 
go  round  the  Cape  in  an  outrigger.  Take  it,  by  all  means, 
—  take  it,  if  it  is  only  to  teach  you  what  it  is  to  earn  your 
own  dinner." 

"And  is  my  sister  to  face  such  a  life  as  this?  " 

"Your  sister  has  courage  for  everything  —  but  leaving 
you,"  said  she,  throwing  her  arm  on  his  shoulder. 

"I  must  be  off.  I  have  only  half  an  hour  left  to  pack  my 
portmanteau  and  be  at  the  station.  One  word  with  you 
alone,  Bramleigh,"  said  he,  in  a  low  tone,  and  Augustus 
walked  at  once  into  the  adjoining  room. 

"You  want  some  of  these,  I  'm  certain,"  said  Cutbill,  as 
he  drew  forth  a  roll  of  crushed  and  crumpled  bank-notes, 


316  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

and  pressed  them  into  Bramleigh's  hand.  "You  '11  pay 
them  back  at  your  own  time;  don't  look  so  stiff,  man,  it 's 
only  a  loan." 

"I  assure  you  if  I  look  stiff,  it 's  not  what  I  feel.  I  'm 
overwhelmed  by  your  good-nature;  but,  believe  me,  I  'm  in 
no  want  of  money." 

"Nobody  ever  is;  but  it's  useful,  all  the  same.  Take 
them  to  oblige  me.  Take  them  just  to  show  you  're  not 
such  a  swell  as  won't  accept  even  the  smallest  service  from 
a  fellow  like  me  —  do  now,  do !  "  and  he  looked  so  plead- 
ingly that  it  was  not  easy  to  refuse  him. 

"I'm  very  proud  to  think  I  have  won  such  friendship; 
but  I  give  you  my  word  I  have  ample  means  for  all  that  I 
shall  need  to  do;  and  if  I  should  not,  I  '11  ask  you  to  help 
me." 

"Good-bye,  then.  Good-bye,  Miss  Ellen,"  cried  he, 
aloud.  "It's  not  my  fault  that  I'm  not  a  favorite  with 
you ;  "  and  thus  saying,  he  snatched  his  hat,  and  was  down 
the  stairs  and  out  of  the  house  before  Bramleigh  could  utter 
a  word. 

"What  a  kind-hearted  fellow  it  is! "  said  he,  as  he  joined 
his  sister.     "I  must  tell  you  what  he  called  me  aside  for." 

She  listened  quietly  while  he  recounted  what  had  just 
occurred,  and  then  said,  — 

"The  Gospel  tells  us  it's  hard  for  rich  men  to  get  to 
heaven;  but  it's  scarcely  less  hard  for  them  to  see  what 
there  is  good  here  below!  So  long  as  we  were  well  off  I 
could  see  nothing  to  like  in  that  man." 

"  That  was  my  own  thought  a  few  minutes  back ;  so  you 
see,  Nelly,  we  are  not  only  travelling  the  same  road,  but 
gaining  the  same  experiences." 

"Sedley  says  in  this  letter  here,"  said  Augustus,  the  next 
morning,  as  he  entered  the  breakfast-room,  "that  Pracontal's 
lawyer  is  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  honesty  of  our  inten- 
tions, and  we  shall  go  to  trial  in  the  November  term  on  the 
ejectment  case.  It  will  raise  the  whole  question,  and  the 
law  shall  decide  between  us." 

"And  what  becomes  of  that  —  that  arrangement,"  said 
she,  hesitatingly,  "by  which  M.  Pracontal  consented  to 
withdraw  his  claim?" 


THE   APPOINTMENT.  317 

"  It  was  made  against  my  consent,  and  I  have  refused  to 
adhere  to  it.  I  have  told  Sedley  so,  and  told  him  that  I 
shall  hold  him  responsible  to  the  amount  disbursed." 

"But,  dear  Gusty,  remember  how  much  to  your  advan- 
tage that  settlement  would  have  been." 

"  I  only  remember  the  shame  I  felt  on  hearing  of  it,  and 
my  sorrow  that  Sedley  should  have  thought  my  acceptance 
of  it  possible." 

"But  how  has  M.  Pracontal  taken  this  money  and  gone 
on  with  his  suit?  —  surely  both  courses  are  not  open  to 
him?  " 

"I  can  tell  you  nothing  about  M.  Pracontal.  I  only 
know  that  he,  as  well  as  myself,  would  seem  to  be  strangely 
served  by  our  respective  lawyers,  who  assume  to  deal  for 
us,  whether  we  will  or  not." 

"I  still  cling  to  the  wish  that  the  matter  had  been  left  to 
Mr.  Sedley." 

"You  must  not  say  so,  Nelly;  you  must  never  tell  me 
you  would  wish  I  had  been  a  party  to  my  own  dishonor. 
Either  Pracontal  or  I  own  this  estate ;  no  compromise  could 
be  possible  without  a  stain  to  each  of  us,  and  for  my  own 
part,  I  will  neither  resist  a  just  claim  nor  give  way  to  an 
unfair  demand.     Let  us  talk  of  this  no  more." 


CHAPTER  XXXVin. 

WITH    LORD    CULDCFF. 

In  a  room  of  a  Roman  palace  large  enough  to  be  a  church, 
but  furnished  with  all  the  luxury  of  an  English  drawing- 
room,  stood  Lord  Culduff,  with  his  back  to  an  ample  fire, 
smoking  a  cigarette ;  a  small  table  beside  him  supported  a 
very  diminutive  coffee-service  of  chased  silver,  and  in  a 
deep-cushioned  chau'  at  the  opposite  side  of  the  fireplace 
lay  a  toy  terrier,  asleep. 

There  were  two  fireplaces  in  the  spacious  chamber,  and  at 
a  writing-table  drawn  close  to  the  second  of  these  sat 
Temple  Bramleigh  writing.  His  pen  as  it  ran  rapidly  along 
was  the  only  sound  in  the  perfect  stillness,  till  Lord  Culduff, 
throwing  the  end  of  his  cigarette  away,  said,  "It  is  not 
easy  to  imagine  so  great  an  idiot  as  your  w^orthy  brother 
Augustus." 

"  A  little  selfishness  would  certainly  not  disimprove  him," 
said  Temple,  coldly. 

"Say  sense,  common  sense,  sir;  a  very  little  of  that 
humble  ingredient  that  keeps  a  man  from  walking  into  a 
well." 

"  I  think  you  judge  him  hardly." 

"  Judge  him  hardly  !  Why,  sir,  what  judgment  can  equal 
the  man's  own  condemnation  of  himself?  He  has  some 
doubts  —  some  very  grave  doubts  —  about  his  right  to  his 
estate,  and  straightway  he  goes  and  throws  it  into  a  law- 
court.  He  prefers,  in  fact,  that  his  inheritance  should  be 
eaten  up  by  lawyers  than  quietly  enjoyed  by  his  own  family. 
Such  men  are  usually  provided  with  lodgings  at  Hanwell; 
their  friends  hide  their  razors,  and  don't  trust  them  with 
toothpicks." 


WITH  LORD   CULDUFF.  319 

"  Oh,  this  is  too  much:  he  may  take  an  extreme  view  of 
what  his  duty  is  in  this  matter,  but  he  's  certainly  no  more 
mad  than  I  am." 

''  I  repeat,  sir,  that  the  man  who  takes  conscience  for  his 
guide  in  the  very  complicated  concerns  of  life  is  unfit  to 
manage  his  affairs.  Conscience  is  a  constitutional  peculiar- 
ity, nothing  more.  To  attempt  to  subject  the  business  of 
life  to  conscience  would  be  about  as  absurd  as  to  regulate 
the  funds  by  the  state  of  the  barometer." 

''  I  '11  not  defend  what  he  is  doing  —  I  'm  as  sorry  for  it 
as  any  one ;  I  only  protest  against  his  being  thought  a  fool." 
"  What  do  you  say  then  to  this  last  step  of  his,  if  it  be 
indeed  true  that  he  has  accepted  this  post?" 

'^'m  afraid  it  is;  my  sister  Ellen  says  they  are  on  their 
way  to  Cattaro." 

''  I  declare  that  I  regard  it  as  an  outrage.  I  can  give  it 
no  other  name.  It  is  an  outrage.  What,  sir,  am  I,  who 
have  reached  the  highest  rank  of  my  career,  or  something 
very  close  to  it ;  who  have  obtained  my  Grand  Cross ;  who 
stand,  as  I  feel  I  do,  second  to  none  in  the  public  service ; 
—  am  I  to  have  my  brother-in-law,  my  wife's  brother, 
gazetted  to  a  post  I  might  have  flung  to  my  valet !  " 
"  There  I  admit  he  was  wrong." 

"That  is  to  say,  sir,  that  you  feel  the  personal  injury  his 
indiscreet  conduct  has  inflicted.  You  see  your  own  ruin  in 
his  rashness." 

"  I  can't  suppose  it  will  go  that  far." 
"And  why  not,  pray?  When  a  Minister  or  Secretary 
of  State  dares  to  offend  me  —  for  it  is  levelled  at  me  —  by 
appointing  my  brother  to  such  an  office,  he  says  as  plainly 
as  words  can  speak,  '  Your  sun  is  set ;  your  influence  is 
gone.  We  place  you  below  the  salt  to-day,  that  to-morrow 
we  may  put  you  outside  the  door.'  You  cannot  be  supposed 
to  know  these  things,  but  /  know  them.  Shall  I  give  you 
a  counsel,  sir?  " 

"  Any  advice  from  you,  my  Lord,  is  always  acceptable." 
"  Give  up  the  line.     Retire;  be  a  gamekeeper,  a  billiard- 
marker  ;  turn  steward  of  a  steamer,  or  correspond  for  one 
of  the  penny  papers,  but  don't  attempt  to  serve  a  country 
that  pays  its  gentlemen  like  toll-keepers." 


320  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

Temple  seemed  to  regard  this  little  outburst  as  such  an 
ordinary  event  that  he  dipped  his  pen  into  the  ink-bottle, 
and  was  about  to  resume  writing,  when  Lord  Culduff  said, 
in  a  sharp,  peevish  tone,  —    , 

"  I  trust  your  brother  and  sister  do  not  mean  to  come  to 
Rome  ?  " 

"  I  believe  they  do,  my  Lord.  I  think  they  have  promised 
to  pay  the  L'Estranges  a  visit  at  Albauo." 

''  My  Lady  must  write  at  once  and  prevent  it.  This  can- 
not possibly  be  permitted.     Where  are  they  now?  " 

"  At  Como.  This  last  letter  was  dated  from  the  inn  at 
that  place." 

Lord  Culduff  rang  the  bell,  and  directed  the  servant  to 
ask  if  her  Ladyship  had  gone  out. 

The  servant  returned  to  say  that  her  Ladyship  was  going 
to  dress,  but  would  see  his  Lordship  on  her  way  downstairs. 

"Whose  card  is  this?  Where  did  this  come  from?" 
asked  Lord  Culduff,  as  he  petulantly  turned  it  round  and 
round,  trying  to  read  the  name. 

"Oh,  that's  Mr.  Cutbill.  He  called  twice  yesterday.  I 
can't  imaoine  what  has  brougrht  him  to  Rome." 

"  Perhaps  I  might  hazard  a  guess,"  said  Lord  Culduff, 
with  a  grim  smile.  "But  I'll  not  see  him.  You'll  say, 
Bramleigh,  that  I  am  very  much  engaged;  that  I  have  a 
press  of  most  important  business ;  that  the  Cardinal  Secre- 
tary is  always  here.  Say  anything,  in  short,  that  will  mean 
No,  Cutbill !  " 

"  He  's  below  at  this  moment." 

"  Then  get  rid  of  him !  My  dear  fellow,  the  A  B  C  of 
your  craft  is  to  dismiss  the  importunate.  Go  and  send  him 
off!" 

Lord  Culduff  turned  to  caress  his  whiskers  as  the  other 
left  the  room ;  and  having  gracefully  disposed  a  very  youth- 
ful curl  of  his  wig  upon  his  forehead,  was  smiling  a  pleasant 
recognition  of  himself  in  the  glass,  when  voices  in  a  louder 
tone  than  were  wont  to  be  heard  in  such  sacred  precincts 
startled  him.  He  listened,  and  suddenly  the  door  was 
opened  rudely,  and  Mr.  Cutbill  entered,  Temple  Bramleigh 
falling  back  as  the  other  came  forward,  and  closing  the 
door  behind. 


WITH  LORD   CULDUFF.  321 

*'  So,  my  Lord,  I  was  to  be  told  you'd  not  see  me,  eh?  '* 
said  Cutbill,  his  face  slightly  flushed  by  a  late  altercation. 

"  I  trusted,  sir,  when  my  private  secretary  had  told  you 
I  was  engaged,  that  I  might  have  counted  upon  not  being 
broken  in  upon." 

"  There  you  were  wrong,  then,"  said  Cutbill,  who  divested 
himself  of  an  overcoat,  threw  it  on  the  back  of  a  chair,  and 
came  forward  towards  the  fire.  "  Quite  wrong.  A  man 
does  n't  come  a  thousand  and  odd  miles  to  be  '  not-at-homed  ' 
at  the  end  of  it." 

''  Which  means,  sir,  that  I  am  positively  reduced  to  the 
necessity  of  receiving  you,  whether  I  will  or  not?  " 

"  Something  near  that,  but  not  exactly.  You  see,  my 
Lord,  that  when  to  my  application  to  your  lawyer  in  town  I 
received  for  answer  the  invariable  rejoinder,  '  it  is  only  my 
Lord  himself  can  reply  to  this ;  his  Lordship  alone  knows 
what  this,  that,  or  t'other  refers  to,'  I  knew  pretty  well,  the 
intention  was  to  choke  me  off.  It  was  saying  to  me.  Is  it 
worth  a  journey  to  Rome  to  ask  this  question?  and  my 
reply  to  myself  was,  '  Yes,  Tom  Cutbill,  go  to  Rome  by  all 
means.'     And  here^I  am." 

"  So  I  perceive,  sir,"  said  the  other  dryly  and  gravely. 

"Now,  my  Lord,  there  are  two  ways  of  transacting  busi- 
ness. One  may  do  the  thing  pleasantly,  with  a  disposition 
to  make  matters  easy  and  comfortable ;  or  one  may  approach 
everything  with  a  determination  to  screw  one's  last  farthing 
out  of  it,  to  squeeze  the  lemon  to  the  last  drop.  Which 
of  these  is  it  your  pleasure  we  should  choose  ?  " 

"  I  must  endeavor  to  imitate,  though  I  cannot  rival  your 
frankness,  sir ;  and  therefore  I  would  say,  let  us  have  that 
mode  in  which  we  shall  see  least  of  each  other." 

"  All  right.  I  am  completely  in  your  Lordship's  hands. 
You  had  your  choice,  and  I  don't  dispute  it.  There,  then, 
is  my  account.  It 's  a  trifle  under  fourteen  hundred  pounds. 
Your  Lordship's  generosity  will  make  it  the  fourteen,  I  've 
no  doubt.  All  the  secret-service  part  —  that  trip  to  town 
and  the  dinner  at  Greenwich  —  I  've  left  blank.  Fill  it  up 
as  your  conscience  suggests.  The  Irish  expenses  are  also 
low,  as  I  lived  a  good  deal  at  Bishop's  Folly.  I  also  make 
no  charge  for  keeping  you  out  of  'Punch.'     It  was  n't  easy, 

21 


322  THE   BRAMLEIGIIS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY, 

all  the  same,  for  the  fellows  had  you,  wig,  waistcoat,  and 
all.  In  fact,  my  Lord,  it 's  a  friendly  document,  though 
your  present  disposition  doesn't  exactly  seem  to  respond 
to  that  line  of  action ;  but  Tom  Cutbill  is  a  forgiving  soul. 
Your  Lordship  will  look  over  this  paper,  then ;  and  in  a 
couple  of  days  —  no  hurry,  you  know,  for  I  have  Tots  to  see 
here  —  in  a  couple  of  days  I'll  drop  in,  and  talk  the  thing 
over  with  you ;  for  you  see  there  are  two  or  three  points  — 
about  the  way  you  behaved  to  your  brother-in-law,  and  such 
like  —  that  I  'd  like  to  chat  a  little  with  3-ou  about." 

As  Lord  Culduff  listened  his  face  grew  redder  and  redder, 
and  his  fingers  played  with  the  back  of  the  chair  on  which 
he  leaned  with  a  quick,  convulsive  motion ;  and  as  the  other 
went  on  he  drew  from  time  to  time  long,  deep  inspirations, 
as  if  invoking  patience  to  carry  him  through  the  infliction. 
At  last  he  said,  in  a  half-faint  voice,  ''  Have  you  done,  sir, 
—  is  it  over?  " 

"Well,  pretty  nigh.  I'd  like  to  have  asked  you  about 
my  Lady.  I  know  she  had  a  temper  of  her  own  before  you 
married  her,  and  I  'm  rather  curious  to  hear  how  you  hit  it 
off  together.  Does  she  give  in  —  eh?  Has  the  high  and 
mighty  dodge  subdued  her?     I  thought  it  would." 

"Do  me  the  great  favor,  sir,  to  ring  that  bell  and  to 
leave  me.  I  am  not  very  well,"  said  Culduff,  gasping  for 
breath. 

"I  see  that.  I  see  3"ou 've  got  the  blood  to  your  head. 
When  a  man  comes  to  j^our  time  of  life,  he  must  mind  what 
he  eats,  and  stick  to  pint  bottles  too.  That 's  true  as  the 
Bible  —  pint  bottles  and  plenty  of  Seltzer  when  you  're 
amongst  the  seventies." 

And  with  this  aphorism  he  drew  on  his  coat,  buttoned  it 
leisurely  to  the  collar,  and  with  a  familiar  nod  left  the 
room. 

"  Giacomo,"  said  Lord  Culduff,  "that  man  is  not  to  be 
admitted  again  on  any  pretext.  Tell  the  porter  his  place 
shall  pay  for  it,  if  he  passes  the  grille." 

Giacomo  bowed  silent  acquiescence,  and  Lord  Culduff  lay 
back  on  a  sofa  and  said,  "  Tell  Dr.  Pritchard  to  come  here ; 
tell  my  Lady,  tell  Mr.  Teinple,  I  feel  very  ill ;  "  and  so  saying 
he  closed  his  eyes  and  seemed  overcome. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

AT    ALBANO. 

*'  Wno  do  you  think  asks  himself  to  dine  with  us  to-day, 
Julia?"  said  L'Estrange  to  his  sister  on  the  day  of  the 
scene  recorded  in  our  last  chapter. 

''I  cannot  guess;  but  I  am  prepared  to  say  I'll  be  glad 
to  see  any  one." 

"  It  is  very  dull  for  you,  indeed,"  said  he,  compassionately. 

'•No,  George,  not  that.  Not  half  so  bad  for  me  as  for 
you  ;  but  somehow  I  felt  it  would  be  a  relief  to  have  a  guest, 
who  would  oblige  us  to  drop  our  grumblings  and  exert  our- 
selves to  talk  of  something  besides  our  own  personal  worries. 
Now,  who  is  it?" 

"  What  would  you  say  to  Mr.  Cutbill?" 

"  Do  you  mean  the  engineering  man  we  saw  at  Castello?  " 

*'The  same." 

"  Oh,  dear !  I  retract.  I  recall  my  last  speech,  and  avow, 
in  all  humility,  I  was  wrong.  All  I  remember  of  that  man 
—  not  much  certainly  —  but  all  I  do  remember  of  him  was 
that  he  was  odious." 

"  He  was  amusing,  in  his  way." 

*'  Probably  —  but  I  detested  '  his  way.'  " 

"  The  Bramleighs  said  he  was  good-natured." 

"  With  all  my  heart.  Give  him  all  the  excellent  qualities 
you  like;  but  he  will  still  remain  insufferably  ill-bred  and 
coarse- minded.     Why  did  you  ask  him,  George?" 

"  I  did  n't ;  he  asked  himself.  Here  's  his  note  :  '  Dear 
L'Estrange '  —  familiar  enough  —  '  Dear  L'Estrange  —  I  have 
just  arrived  here,  and  want  to  have  some  talk  with  you.  I 
mean,  therefore,  to  ask  you  to  let  me  take  a  bit  of  dinner 
with  you  to-day.  I  shall  be  out  by  five  or  half-past.  Don't 
make  a  stranger  of  me,  but  give  me  the  cold  mutton  or 
whatever  it  is. — Yours,  Tom  Cutbill.'" 


324  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

''  What  a  type  of  the  writer !  " 

"  "Well ;  but  what  can  we  get  for  dinner,  Ju?" 

*' The  cold  mutton,  I  think.  I'm  sure  the  gentleman's 
estimate  of   his  value  as  a  guest  cannot  be  too  low." 

"No,  Julia,  let  us  treat  him  to  our  best.  He  means 
kindly  by  coming  out  here  to  see  us." 

"I'd  have  taken  the  will  for  the  deed  with  more  of  grati- 
tude. Oh,  George,"  cried  she  with  fervor,  "  why  will  you 
be  always  so  much  obliged  to  the  man  who  condescends  to 
eat  your  salt?  This  Mr.  Cutbill  will  be  your  patron  for  the 
next  twenty-four  hours." 

"Certainly  the  man  who  dines  with  us  cannot  come  for 
the  excellence  of  our  fare." 

"That  is  a  very  ingenious  bit  of  self-flattery;  but  don't 
trust  it,  George.  Men  eat  bad  dinners  continually ;  and 
there  is  a  sort  of  condescension  in  eating  them  at  a  friend's 
house,  which  is  often  mistaken  for  good-nature ;  and  the  fun 
of  it  is  that  the  men  who  do  these  things  are  very  vain  of 
the  act." 

L'Estrange  gave  a  little  shrug  of  his  shoulders.  It  was 
his  usual  reply  to  those  subtleties  which  his  sister  was  so 
fond  of,  and  that  he  was  never  very  sure  whether  they  were 
meant  to  puzzle  or  to  persuade  him. 

' '  So  then  lie  is  to  be  an  honored  guest,  George,  eh  ?  " 

He  smiled  a  gentle  assent,  and  she  went  on:  "And  we 
are  to  treat  him  to  that  wonderful  Rhine  wine  Sir  Marcus 
sent  you  to  cure  your  ague.  And  the  very  thought  of 
drinking  anything  so  costly  actually  brought  on  a  shivering 
attack." 

' '  Have  we  any  of  it  left  ?  " 

"Two  bottles,  if  those  uncouth  little  flattened  flasks  can 
be  called  bottles.  And  since  you  are  resolved  he  is  to  be 
entertained  like  a  '  Prince  Russe,'  I  '11  actually  treat  him  to  a 
dish  of  maccaroni  of  my  own  invention.  You  remember, 
George,  Mrs.  Monkton  was  going  to  withdraw  her  subscrip- 
tion from  the  Church  when  she  ate  of  it,  and  remained  a  firm 
Protestant." 

"  Julia,  Julia!  "  said  he,  in  a  half-reproving  tone. 

"I  am  simply  citing  an  historical  fact,  but  you'll  provoke 
me  to  say  much  worse  if  you  stand  there  with  that  censorial 


AT   ALBANO.  325 

face.    As  if  I  did  n't  know  how  wrong  it  was  to  speak  lightly 
of  a  lady  who  subscribes  two  hundred  francs  a  year." 

"  There  are  very  few  who  do  so,"  said  he,  with  a  sigh. 

*'My  poor  brother,"  said  she,  caressingly,  "it  is  a  very 
hard  case  to  be  so  poor,  and  we  with  such  refined  tastes  and 
such  really  nice  instincts  ;  we,  who  would  like  a  pretty  house, 
and  a  pretty  garden,  and  a  pretty  little  equipage,  and  who 
would  give  pretty  little  dinners,  with  the  very  neatest  cut 
glass  and  china,  and  be,  all  the  time,  so  cultivated  and  so 
simple,  so  elevated  in  tone  and  so  humble  in  spirit.  There, 
go  away,  and  look  after  some  fruit — do  something,  and 
don't  stand  there  provoking  me  to  talk  nonsense.  That 
solemn  look  made  me  ten  times  more  silly  than  I  ever 
intended  to  be." 

"  I  'm  sure,"  said  L'Estrange,  thoughtfully,  "  he  has  some- 
thing to  tell  me  of  the  coal-mine." 

"  Ah,  if  I  thought  that,  George?  If  I  thought  he  brought 
us  tidings  of  a  great  '  dividend '  —  is  n't  that  the  name  for 
the  thing  the  people  always  share  amongst  themselves,  out 
of  somebody  else's  money?  So  I  have  shocked  you,  at 
last,  into  running  away;  and  now  for  the  cares  of  the 
household." 

Now,  though  she  liked  to  quiz  her  brother  about  his  love 
of  hospitality  and  the  almost  reckless  way  in  which  he  would 
spend  money  to  entertain  a  guest,  it  was  one  of  her  especial 
delights  to  play  hostess,  and  receive  guests  with  whatever 
display  their  narrow  fortune  permitted.  Nor  did  she  spare 
any  pains  she  could  bestow  in  preparing  to  welcome  Mr. 
Cutbill,  and  her  day  was  busily  passed  between  the  kitchen, 
the  garden,  and  the  drawing-room,  ordering,  aiding,  and 
devising  with  a  zeal  and  activity  that  one  might  have  sup- 
posed could  only  have  been  evoked  in  the  service  of  a  much 
honored  guest. 

"  Look  at  my  table,  George,"  said  she,  "  before  you  go  to 
dress  for  dinner,  and  say  if  you  ever  saw  anything  more 
tasteful.  There  's  a  bouquet  for  you ;  and  see  how  grace- 
fully I  have  twined  the  grape-leaves  round  these  flasks. 
You'll  fancy  yourself  Horace  entertaining  Maecenas.  Mr. 
Cutbill  is  certainly  not  very  like  him  —  but  no  matter.  Nor 
is  our  little  Monte  Oliveto  exactly  Falernian." 


326  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

*'  It  is  quite  beautiful,  Ju,  all  of  it,"  said  he,  drawiug  her 
towards  him  and  kissing  her ;  but  there  was  a  touch  of  sad- 
ness in  his  voice,  as  in  his  look,  to  which  she  replied  with  a 
merry  laugh,  and  said,  — 

"  Say  it  out  boldly,  George,  do;  say  frankly  what  a  sin 
and  a  shame  it  is,  that  such  a  dear  good  girl  should  have  to 
strain  her  wits  in  this  hand-to-hand  fight  with  Poverty,  and 
not  be  embellishing  some  splendid  station  with  her  charming 
talents,   and  such  like." 

"  I  was  thinking  something  not  very  far  from  it,"  said  he, 
smiling. 

"Of  course  you  were;  but  you  never  thought,  perhaps, 
how  soon  ennui  and  lassitude  might  have  taken  the  place  of 
all  my  present  energy.  I  want  to  please  you  now,  George, 
since  without  me  you  would  be  desolate ;  but  if  we  were 
rich,  you'd  not  depend  on  me,  and  I'd  have  been  very 
dispirited  and  very  sad.  There  now,  that 's  quite  enough 
of  sentimentalizing  for  once.  I  'm  off  to  dress.  Do  you 
know,"  said  she,  as  she  mounted  the  stairs,  "  I  have  serious 
thoughts  of  captivating  Mr.  Cutbill  ?  " 

"  Oh,  Julia,  I  entreat  —  "  but  she  was  gone  ere  he  could 
finish,  and  her  merry  laughter  was  heard  till  her  door  closed. 

Poor  girl,  her  light-heartedness  died  out  as  she  felt  herself 
alone,  and  turning  towards  a  little  photograph  of  a  man  in  a 
naval  uniform,  that  hung  over  the  chimne}^,  her  eyes  grew 
dim  with  tears  as  she  gazed  on  it. 

"Ay,"  said  she,  bitterly,  "and  this  same  humor  it  was 
that  lost  me  the  truest  heart  that  ever  beat !  What  would 
I  not  give  now  to  know  that  he  still  remembered  me  — ■ 
remembered  me  with  kindness !  " 

She  sat  down,  with  her  face  buried  in  her  hands,  nor 
stirred  till  the  sound  of  voices  beneath  apprised  her  that  their 
guest  had  arrived. 

While  she  was  yet  standing  before  her  glass,  and  trying 
to  efface  the  traces  of  sorrow  on  her  features,  George  tapped 
softly  at  her  door.  "May  P  come  in?"  cried  he.  "Oh, 
Julia,"  said  he,  as  he  drew  nigh,  "it  is  worse  than  I  had 
even  suspected.     Cutbill  tells  me  that  —  " 

He  could  not  go  on,  but  bending  his  head  on  her  shoulder, 
sobbed  hysterically. 


AT  ALBANO.  327 

«'  George,  George,  do  not  give  ^ay  thus,"  said  she  calmly. 
"  What  is  it  has  happened?     What  has  he  told  you? " 

''  The  mine  —  the  Lisconnor  scheme  —  is  bankrupt." 

"Is  that  all?" 

"  All !  Why,  it  is  ruin  —  utter  ruin  !  Every  shilling  that 
you  had  in  the  world  is  gone,  and  I  have  done  it  all."  And 
once  more  his  feelings  overcame  him,  and  he  sobbed 
convulsively. 

"But,  my  dear,  dear  brother,"  said  she,  fondly,  "  if  it's 
lost,  it 's  lost,  and  there  's  no  help  for  it ;  and  let  us  never  fret 
over  what  binds  us  only  the  closer  together.  You  can't  get 
rid  of  me,  now,  for  I  declare,  George,  no  earthly  considera- 
tion will  make  me  accept  Mr.  Cutbill." 

"  Oh,  how  can  you  jest  this  way,  Julia,  at  such  a 
moment !  " 

"  I  assure  you  I  am  most  serious.  I  know  that  man 
intends  to  propose  to  me,  and  you  are  just  in  the  humor  to 
mix  up  our  present  misfortunes  and  his  pretensions,  and 
actually  espouse  his  cause ;  but  it 's  no  use,  George,  no  use 
whatever.  I  '11  not  consent.  Go  downstairs,  now.  Stay, 
let  me  wipe  those  red  eyes.  Don't  let  that  man  see  any  trace 
of  this  sorrow  about  you ;  bear  up  quietly  and  well.  You 
shall  see  that  I  do  not  give  counsel  without  being  able  to 
show  example.     Go  down  now,  and  I  '11  follow  you." 

As  he  left  the  room  she  sat  down,  and  accidentally  so  as 
to  see  her  face  in  the  glass.  The  forced  smile  which  she 
had  put  on  was  only  slowly  vanishing  from  her  features,  and 
she  was  shocked  at  the  pallor  that  now  succeeded. 

"I  am  looking  very  ill,"  muttered  she.  "There's  no 
denying  it.  That  man  will  certainly  see  how  this  news  has 
struck  me  down,  and  I  would  not  that  he  should  witness  my 
want  of  courage.  I  wish  I  had  —  no,  I  don't.  I  'd  not  put 
on  rouge  if  I  had  it ;  but  I  wish  we  were  alone  to-day,  and 
could  talk  over  our  fortune  together.  Perhaps  it 's  as  well 
as  it  is."  And  now  she  arose  and  descended  the  stairs 
hastily,  as  though  not  to  give  herself  time  for  further 
thought. 

Cutbill  was  in  the  act  of  cautioning  L'Estrange  against 
speaking  of  the  Lisconnor  misfortune  to  his  sister  when  she 
entered  the  room.     "  Do  you  forget  me.  Miss  L'Estrange," 


328  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

said  be,  coming  forward,  "or  am  I  to  remind  you  that  we 
met  in  Ireland?  " 

'*  Forget  you,  Mr.  Cutbill,"  replied  she,  laughingly; 
*'  how  can  I  forget  the  charming  tenor  who  sang  second  to 
me,  or  the  gallant  cavalier  who  rode  out  with  me?  " 

"  Ay,  but  I  got  a  roll  in  a  duck-pond  that  day,"  said  he, 
grimly.  ' '  You  persuaded  me  to  let  the  beast  drink,  and  he 
lay  down  in  the  water  and  nearly  squashed  me." 

"  Oh,  you  almost  killed  me  with  laughter.  I  had  to  hold 
on  by  the  crutch  of  my  saddle  to  save  myself  from  falling 
into  the  pond." 

"  And  I  hear  you  made  a  sketch  of  me." 

"  Have  you  not  seen  it?  I  declare  I  thought  I  had  shown 
it  to  you ;   but  T  will  after  dinner  if  I  can  find  it." 

The  dinner  was  announced  at  this  moment,  and  they  pro- 
ceeded to  the  dining-room. 

"Taste  is  everything,"  said  Cutbill,  as  he  unfolded  his 
napkin,  and  surveyed  the  table,  decked  out  with  fruit  and 
flowers  with  a  degree  of  artistic  elegance  that  appealed  even 
to  him.  "  Taste  is  everything.  I  declare  to  you  that 
Howell  and  James  would  pay  fifty  pounds  down  just  for 
that  urn  as  it  stands  there.  How  you  twined  those  lilies 
around  it  in  that  way  is  quite  beyond  me." 

As  the  dinner  went  on,  he  was  in  ecstasy  with  everything. 

"  Don't  part  with  your  cook,  even  after  they  make  a 
bishop  of  you,"  said  he.  "I  don't  know  the  French  name 
of  that  dish,  but  I  believe  it 's  a  stewed  hare.  Might  I  send 
my  plate  twice  ?  " 

"Mr.  Cutbill  saw  the  Bramleighs  at  Como,  Julia,"  said 
L'Estrange,  to  take  him,  if  possible,  off  the  subject  of  the 
entertainment. 

"J  did,  indeed.     I  met  them  at  that  very  hotel  that  was 

once   Queen  Caroline's  house.     There  they  were   diverting 

themselves,  —  boating  and  going  about  just  as  if  the  world 

i  had   gone    all   right   with    them ;     and    Bramleigh   told    me 

1  one   morning   that  he  had  cashed  the  last  check  for  fifty 

pounds." 

' '  And  is  he  really  determined  to  touch  nothing  of  his 
property  till  the  law  assures  him  that  his  right  is  un- 
deniable ?  " 


AT  ALBANO.  329 

"  Worse  than  that,  far  worse ;  he  has  quarrelled  with  old 
Sedley,  his  father's  law-agent  for  forty  years,  and  threatened 
him  with  an  action  for  having  entered  into  a  compromise 
without  instructions  or  permission ;  and  he  is  wrong,  clearly 
wrong,  for  I  saw  the  correspondence,  and  if  it  goes  before  a 
jury,  they  '11  say  at  once  that  there  was  consent." 

"  Had  he  then  forgotten  it?"  asked  Julia. 

"  No,  he  neither  forgets  nor  remembers ;  but  he  has  a  sort 
of  flighty  way  of  getting  himself  into  a  white  heat  of  en- 
thusiasm ;  and  though  he  cools  down  occasionally  into  a 
little  common  sense,  it  does  n't  last ;  he  rushes  back  into  his 
heroics,  and  raves  about  saving  him  from  himself,  rescuing 
him  from  the  ignoble  temptation  of  self-interest,  and  such 
like  balderdash." 

''There  must  be  a  great  deal  of  true  nobility  in  such  a 
nature,"  said  Julia. 

"I'll  tell  you  what,  there  is;  and  it  runs  through  them 
all  except  the  eldest  daughter,  and  that  puppy  the  diplo- 
matist —  there  's  madness  !  " 

"Madness?" 

"  Well,  I  call  it  madness.  Suppose  now  I  was  to  decline 
taking  another  glass  of  that  wine  —  Steinheimer,  I  think  it 's 
called  —  till  I  saw  your  brother's  receipt  for  the  payment  of 
it,  would  n't  you  say  I  was  either  mad  or  something  very 
near  it?" 

"  I  don't  see  the  parity  between  the  two  cases,"  said 
Julia. 

"Ah,  you  're  too  sharp  for  me.  Miss  Julia,  too  sharp ;  but 
I 'm  right  all  the  same.  Is  n't  Jack  Bramleigh  mad?  Is  it 
anything  but  madness  for  a  man  to  throw  up  his  commis- 
sion and  go  and  serve  as  a  sailor  —  before  the  mast  or 
behind  it,  I  don't  care  which;  but  isn't  that  madness?" 

Julia  felt  a  sense  of  sickness  almost  to  fainting,  but  she 
never  spoke  nor  stirred,  while  George,  quickly  noticing  her 
state,  turned  towards  Cutbill  and  said,  — 

"What  news  have  you  of  him?  he  was  a  great  favorite 
of  mine." 

"  Of  yours  and  of  everybody's,"  said  Cutbill.  And  now 
the  color  rushed  back  to  Julia's  cheek,  and  had  Cutbill  but 
looked   towards  her,   it  is  very  probable  he  would  greatly 


330  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

have  misconstrued  Ihe  smile  she  gave  him.  "  I  wish  I  had 
news  of  him  :*  but  for  these  last  few  months  I  have  none. 
When  he  got  out  to  China  he  found  that  great  house,  Alcock 
and  Baines,  smashed  —  all  the  tea-merchants  were  smashed 

and    they   tell   me    that   he  shipped  with  a  Yankee  for 

Constantinople." 

''  You  heard  from  him,  then?  " 

"No;  he  never  writes  to  any  one.  He  may  send  you  a 
newspaper,  or  a  piece  of  one,  to  show  where  he  is ;  but  he 
says  he  never  was  able  to  say  what  was  in  his  head,  and  he 
always  found  he  was  writing  things  out  of  the  '  Complete 
Correspondent.'  " 

"Poor  Jack!" 

"Shall  I  go  and  look  after  your  coffee,  George?  You 
say  you  like  me  to  make  it  myself,"  said  Julia;  and  she 
arose  and  left  the  room  almost  before  he  could  reply. 

"  You  '11  never  marry  while  she  's  your  housekeeper,  I  see 
that,"  said  Cutbill,  as  the  door  closed  after  her. 

"  She  is  my  greatest  comfort  in  life,"  said  the  other, 
warmly. 

"  I  see  it  all;  and  the  whole  time  of  dinner  I  was  thinking 
what  a  pity  it  was  —  No  matter,  I  '11  not  say  what  I  was 
going  to  say.  I  'm  glad  you  have  n't  told  her  of  the  smash 
till  I  see  what  I  can  do  with  the  old  Viscount." 

"  But  I  have  told  her ;  she  knows  it  all." 

"And  do  you  tell  me  she  had  that  heavy  load  on  her 
heart  all  the  time  she  was  talking  and  laughing  there?" 

L'Estrange  nodded. 

"  It's  only  women  bear  up  that  way.  Take  my  word  for 
it,  if  it  had  been  one  of  us  he  'd  not  have  come  down  to 
dinner,  he  'd  not  have  had  pluck  to  show  himself.  There  's 
where  they  beat  us,  sir,  —that 's  real  courage." 

"  You  are  not  taking  your  wine,"  said  L'Estrange,  seeing 
him  pass  the  bottle. 

"No;  I  want  my  head  clear  this  evening,  I  want  to  be 
cool  and  collected.  I'll  not  drink  any  more.  Tell  me 
about  yourself  a  little  ;  how  do  you  get  on  here?  do  you  like 
the  place?  do  you  like  the  people?" 

"  The  place  is  charming;  we  like  it  better  every  day  we 
live  in  it." 


AT  ALBANO.  331 

"  And  the  people  —  the  English,  I  mean  ;  what  of  them?  " 

"  They  mean  kindly  enough,  indeed  they  are  often  very 
kind;  but  they  do  not  live  in  much  harmony,  and  they 
only  agree  in  one  thing  — " 

''  I  know  what  that  is.  They  all  join  to  worry  the  parson 
—  of  course  they  do.  Did  you  ever  live  in  a  lodging-house, 
L'Estrange?  If  you  did,  you  must  have  seen  how  the 
whole  population  coalesced  to  torment  the  maid-of-all-work. 
She  belonged  to  them  all,  collectively  and  individually. 
And  so  it  is  with  you.  You  are  the  maid-of-all-work.  You 
have  to  make  Brown's  bed,  and  black  Robinson's  boots  — 
spiritually,  I  mean  —  and  none  recognizes  the  claim  of  his 
neighbor,  each  believes  you  belong  to  himself.  That's  the 
voluntary  system,  as  they  call  it;  and  a  quicker  way  to 
drive  a  man  mad  was  never  invented." 

"Perhaps  you  take  an  extreme  view  of  it  — "  began 
L'Estrange. 

"No,  I  don't,"  interrupted  the  other.  "I've  only  to 
look  at  your  face,  and  instead  of  the  fresh  cheeks  and  the 
clear  bright  eyes  I  remember  when  I  saw  you  first,  I  see 
you  now  anxious  and  pale  and  nervous.  Where 's  the 
pluck  that  enabled  you  to  ride  at  a  five-foot  wall  ?  Do  you 
think  you  could  do  it  now  ?  " 

"  Very  likely  not.  Very  likely  it  is  all  the  better  I  should 
not." 

"You'll  not  get  me  to  believe  that.  No  man's  nature 
was  ever  bettered  for  being  bullied." 

L'Estrange  laughed  heartily,  not  in  the  least  degree 
angered  by  the  other's  somewhat  coarse  candor. 

"It's  a  queer  world  altogether;  but  maybe  if  each  of 
us  was  doing  the  exact  thing  he  was  fit  for,  life  would  n't 
be  half  as  good  a  thing  as  it  is.  The  whole  thing  would  be 
like  a  piece  of  machinery,  and  instead  of  the  hitches  and 
makeshifts  that  we  see  now,  and  that  bring  out  men's  quali- 
ties and  test  their  natures,  we  'd  have  nothing  but  a  big 
workshop,  where  each  did  his  own  share  of  the  work,  and 
neither  asked  aid  nor  gave  it.    Do  you  permit  a  cigar?" 

"  Of  course ;  but  I  've  nothing  worth  offering  you." 

"  I  have,  though,"  said  he,  producing  his  case  and  draw- 
ing forth  a  cheroot,  and  examining  it  with  that  keen  scrutiny 


332  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

and  that  seeming  foretaste  of  enjoyment  peculiar  to  smokers. 
"Try  that,  and  tell  me  when  you  tasted  the  equal  of  it. 
Ah,  L'Estrange,  we  must  see  and  get  you  out  of  this. 
It 's  not  a  place  for  you.  A  nice  little  vicarage  in  Hants 
or  Herts,  a  sunny  glebe,  with  a  comfortable  house  and 
a  wife ;  later  on,  a  wife  of  course,  for  your  sister  won't  stay 
with  you  always." 

' '  You  've  drawn  a  pleasant  picture  —  only  to  rub  it  out 
again." 

"  Miss  Julia  has  got  a  bad  headache,  sir,"  said  the  maid, 
entering  at  this  moment,  "  and  begs  you  will  excuse  her. 
Will  you  please  to  have  coffee  here  or  in  the  drawing- 
room  ?  " 

"  Ay,  here,"  said  Cutbill,  answering  the  look  with  which 
the  other  seemed  to  interrogate  him.  "  She  could  n't  stand 
it  any  longer,  and  no  wonder ;  but  I  '11  not  keep  you  away 
from  her  now.  Go  up  and  say,  I  '11  see  Lord  Culduff  in  the 
morning,  and  if  I  have  any  news  worth  reporting,  I  '11  come 
out  here  in  the  afternoon." 


CHAPTER  XL. 

*'A    reception"    at    ROME. 

It  was  the  night  of  the  Countess  Balderoni's  weekly  recep- 
tion, and  the  servants  had  just  lighted  up  the  handsome 
suite  of  rooms  and  disposed  the  furniture  in  fitting  order, 
when  the  Countess  and  Lady  Augusta  Bramleigh  entered 
to  take  a  passing  look  at  the  apartment  before  the  arrival 
of  the  guests. 

"It  is  so  nice,"  said  Lady  Augusta,  in  her  peculiar  lan- 
guid way,  "  to  live  in  a  country  where  the  people  are  civilized 
enough  to  meet  for  intercourse  without  being  fed,  or  danced, 
or  fiddled  for.  Now,  I  tried  this  in  London ;  but  it  was  a 
complete  failure.  If  you  tell  English  people  you  are  '  at 
home '  every  Tuesday  or  every  Thursday  evening,  they  will 
make  a  party  some  particular  night  and  storm  your  salons 
in  hundreds,  and  you'll  be  left  with  three  or  four  visitors 
for  the  remainder  of  the  season.     Isn't  that  so?" 

"  I  suspect  it  is.  But  you  see  how  they  fall  into  our  ways 
here ;  and  if  they  do  not  adopt  them  at  home,  there  may  be 
something  in  the  climate  or  the  hours  which  forbids  it." 

''  No,  cava;  it  is  simply  their  dogged  material  spirit, 
which  says,  '  We  go  out  for  a  dejefine^  or  a  dinner,  or  a 
ball.'  There  must  be  a  substantial  programme  of  a  some- 
thing to  be  eaten  or  to  be  done.  I  declare  I  believe  I 
detest  our  people." 

"How  are  you,  then,  to  live  amongst  them?" 

"  I  don't  mean  it.  I  shall  not  go  back.  If  I  grow  weary 
of  Europe,  I  '11  try  Egypt,  or  I'll  go  live  at  Lebanon.  Do 
you  know,  since  I  saw  Lear's  picture  of  the  cedars,  I  have 
been  dying  to  live  there.  It  would  be  so  delightful  to  lie 
under  the  great  shade  of  those  glorious  trees,  with  one's 


334  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

'  barb  '  standing  saddled  near,  and  groups  of  Arabs  in  their 
white  burnouses  scattered  about.  What's  this?  Here's  a 
note  for  you?" 

The  Countess  took  the  note  from  the  servant,  and  ran  her 
eyes  hurriedly  over  it. 

"This  is  impossible,"  murmured  she,  "  quite  impossible. 
Only  think,  Gusta,  here  is  the  French  Secretary  of  Legation, 
Baron  de  Limayrac,  asking  my  permission  to  present  to  me 
no  less  a  person  than  Monsieur  de  Pracontal." 

"  Do  you  mean  the  Pracontal  —  the  Pretender  himself?  " 

"  Of  course.  It  can  be  no  other.  Can  you  imagine  any- 
thing so  outrageously  in  bad  taste?  Limayrac  must  know 
who  this  man  is,  what  claims  he  is  putting  forward,  who  he 
assumes  to  be;  and  yet  he  proposes  to  present  him  here. 
Of  course  I  shall  refuse  him." 

"No,  cava,  nothing  of  the  kind.  Receive  him  by  all 
means.  You  or  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  law  or  lawyers,  — 
he  does  not  come  here  to  prosecute  his  suit.  On  the  con- 
trary, I  accept  his  wish  to  make  our  acquaintance  as  an 
evidence  of  a  true  gentlemanlike  instinct;  and,  besides,  I 
am  most  eager  to  see  him." 

"  Remember,  Gusta,  the  Culduffs  are  coming  here,  and 
they  will  regard  this  as  a  studied  insult.  I  think  I  should 
feel  it  such  myself  in  their  place." 

"  I  don't  think  they  could.  I  am  certain  they  ought  not. 
Does  any  one  believe  that  every  person  in  a  room  with  four 
or  five  hundred  is  his  dear  friend,  devoted  to  him,  fmd  dying 
to  serve  him?  If  you  do  not  actually  throw  these  people 
together,  how  are  they  more  in  contact  in  your  salon  than 
in  the  Piazza  del  Popolo?" 

"  This  note  is  in  pencil,  too,"  went  she  on.  "I  suppose 
it  was  written  here.     Where  is  the  Baron  de  Limayrac?  " 

"  In  his  carriage,  my  Lady,  at  the  door." 

''You  see,  dearest,  you  cannot  help  admitting  him." 

The  Countess  had  but  time  to  say  a  few  hurried  words  to 
the  servant,  when  the  doors  were  thrown  open,  and  the 
company  began  to  pour  in.  Arrivals  followed  each  other 
in  rapid  succession,  and  names  of  every  country  in  Europe 
were  announced,  as  their  titled  owners  —  soldiers,  statesmen, 
cardinals,  or  ministers  —  passed  on,  and  grandes  dames  in 


"A  KECEPTION"   AT   ROME.  335 

all  the  plenitude  of  splendid  toilette,  sailed  proudly  by,  glit- 
tering with  jewels  and  filmy  in  costly  lace. 

While  the  Countess  Balderoni  was  exchanging  salutations 
with  a  distinguished  guest,  the  Baron  de  Limayrac  stood 
respectfully  waiting  his  time  to  be  recognized. 

"  My  friend,  Count  Pracontal,  madame/'  said  he,  present- 
ing the  stranger,  and,  though  a  most  frigid  bow  from  the 
hostess  acknowledged  the  presentation,  Pracontal's  easy  as- 
surance''remained  unabashed,  and,  with  the  coolest  imagi- 
nable air,  he  begged  he  might  have  the  great  honor  of  being 
presented  to  Lady  Augusta  Bramleigh. 

Lady  Augusta,  not  waiting  for  her  sister's  intervention,  at 
once  accepted  the  speech  as  addressed  to  herself,  and  spoke 
to  him  with  much  courtesy. 

"  You  are  new  to  Rome,  I  believe?  "  said  she. 

' '  Years  ago  I  was  here  ;  but  not  in  the  society.  I  knew 
only  the  artists,  and  that  Bohemian  class  who  live  Vith 
artists,"  said  he,  quite  easily.  *' Perhaps  I  might  have  the 
same  difficulty  still,  but  Baron  de  Limayrac  and  I  served 
together  in  Africa,  and  he  has  been  kind  enough  to  present 
me  to  some  of  his  friends." 

The  unaffected  tone  and  the  air  of  good-breeding  with 
which  these  few  words  were  uttered,  went  far  to  conciliate 
Lady  Augusta  in  his  favor ;  and  after  some  further  talk 
together  she  left  him,  promising,  at  some  later  period  of  the 
evening,  to  rejoin  him  aiid  tell  him  something  of  the  people 
who  were  there. 

"Do  you  know,  cara,  that  he  is  downright  charming?" 
whispered  she  to  her  sister,  as  they  walked  together  through 
the  rooms.  "  Of  course  I  mean  Pracontal ;  he  is  very  witty, 
and  not  in  the  least  ill-natured.  I  'm  so  sorry  the  Culduffs 
have  not  come.  I  'd  have  given  anything  to  present  Pracon- 
tal to  his  cousin  —  if  she  be  his  cousin.  Oh,  here  they  are  : 
and  is  n't  she  splendid  in  pearls?  " 

'Lord  and  Lady  Culduff  moved  up  the  salon  as  might  a 
prince  and  princess  royal,  acknowledging  blandly  but  con- 
descendingly the  salutations  that  met  them.  Knowing  and 
known  to  every  one,  they  distributed  the  little  graceful 
greetings  with  that  graduated  benignity  great  people  or 
would-be  great  people  —  for  they  are  more  alike  than  is 
generally  believed  —  so  well  understand. 


336  THE   BEAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

Although  Lady  Augusta  and  Lady  Culduff  had  exchanged 
cards,  they  had  not  yet  met  at  Rome,  and  now,  as  the  proud 
peer  moved  along  triumphant  in  the  homage  rendered  to 
his  own  claims  and  to  his  wife's  beauty,  Lady  Augusta 
stepped  quietly  forward,  and  in  a  tone  familiarly  easy  said, 
"  Oh,  we  've  met  at  last,  Marion.  Pray  make  me  known  to 
Lord  Culduff."  In  the  little  act  of  recognition  which  now 
passed  between  these  two  people,  an  acute  observer  might 
have  detected  something  almost  bordering  on  freemasonry. 
They  were  of  the  same  "order,"  and,  though  the  circum- 
stances under  which  they  met  left  much  to  explain,  there 
was  that  between  them  which  plainly  said,  "  We  at  least  play 
on  '  the  square '  with  each  other.  JVe  are  within  the  pale, 
and  scores  of  little  misunderstandings  that  might  serve  to 
separate  or  estrange  meaner  folk,  with  us  can  wait  for  their 
explanations."  They  chatted  away  pleasantly  for  some 
minutes  over  the  Lord  Georges  and  Lady  Georginas  of  their 
acquaintance,  and  reminded  each  other  of  little  traits  of  this 
one's  health  or  that  one's  temper,  as  though  of  these  was 
that  world  they  belonged  to  made  up  and  fashioned.  And 
all  this  while  Marion  stood  by  mute  and  pale  with  anger, 
for  she  knew  well  how  Lady  Augusta  was  intentionally 
dwelling  on  a  theme  she  could  have  no  part  in.  It  was  with 
a  marked  change  of  manner,  so  marked  as  to  imply  a  sudden 
rush  of  consciousness,  that  Lady  Augusta,  turning  to  her, 
said,  — 

' '  And  how  do  you  like  Rome  ?  " 

A  faint  motion  of  the  eyelids,  and  a  half-gesture  with  the 
shoulders,  seeming  to  express  something  like  indifference, 
was  the  reply. 

"  I  believe  all  English  begin  in  that  way.  It  is  a  place  to 
grow  into  —  its  ways,  its  hours,  its  topics  are  all  its  own." 

"  I  call  it  charming,"  said  Lord  Culduff,  who  felt  appealed 
to. 

"  If  you  stand  long  on  the  brink  here,"  resumed  she, 
"like  a  timid  bather,  you'll  not  have  courage  to  plunge  in. 
You  must  go  rit  it  at  once,  for  there  are  scores  of  things  will 
scare  you,  if  you  only  let  them." 

Marion  stood  impassive  and  fixed,  as  though  she  heard 
but  did  not  heed  what  was  said,  while  Lord  Culduff  smiled 
his  approval  and  nodded  his  assent  in  most  urbane  fashion. 


"A  EECEPTION"  AT  ROME.  337 

*' What  if  you  came  and  dined  here  to-morrow,  Marion? 
My  sister  is  wonderfully  '  well  up '  in  the  place.  I  warn 
you  as  to  her  execrable  dinner;  for  her  cook  is  Italian, j^z^r 
sang^  and  will  poison  you  with  his  national  dishes ;  but  we  '11 
be  en  petit  coniite." 

"  I  think  we  have  something  for  to-morrow,"  said  Marion, 
coldly,  and  looking  to  Lord  Culduff. 

"  To-morrow  —  Thursday,  Thursday  ?  "  said  he,  hesitating. 
"  I  can't  remember  any  engagement  for  Thursday." 

"  There  is  something,  I'm  sure,"  said  Marion,  in  the  same 
cold  tone. 

"  Then  let  it  be  for  Friday,  and  you  '11  meet  my  brother- 
in-law  ;  it 's  the  only  day  he  ever  dines  at  home  in  the  week." 

Lord  Culduff  bowed  an  assent,  and  Marion  muttered 
something  that  possibly  meant  acquiescence. 

''  I  've  made  a  little  dinner  for  you  for  Friday,"  said  Lady 
Augusta  to  her  sister.  "  The  Culduff s  and  Monsignore 
Ratti  —  that,  with  Tonino  and  ourselves,  will  be  six ;  and 
I  '11  think  of  another  :  we  can't  be  an  even  number.  Marion 
is  heart-broken  about  coming  ;  indeed,  I  'm  not  sure  we  shall 
see  her,  after  all." 

''  Are  we  so  very  terrible  then?"  asked  the  Countess. 

''  Not  you^  dearest;  it  is  /am  the  dreadful  one.  I  took 
that  old  fop  a  canter  into  the  peerage,  and  he  was  so 
delighted  to  escape  from  Bramleighia,  that  he  looked  softly 
into  my  eyes,  and  held  my  hand  so  unnecessarily  long,  that 
she  became  actually  sick  with  anger.  Now,  I  'm  resolved 
that  the  old  Lord  shall  be  one  of  my  adorers." 

''Oh,  Gusta!" 

"  Yes.  I  say  it  calmly  and  advisedly  ;  that  young  woman 
must  be  taught  better  manners  than  to  pat  the  ground  im- 
patiently with  her  foot  and  to  toss  her  head  away  when  one 
is  talking  to  her  husband.  Oh,  there's  that  poor  Count 
Pracontal  waiting  for  me,  and  looking  so  piteously  at  me ; 
I  forgot  I  promised  to  take  him  a  tour  through  the  rooms, 
and  tell  him  who  everybody  is." 

The  company  began  to  thin  off  soon  after  midnight,  and 
by  one  o'clock  the  Countess  and  her  sister  found  themselves 
standing  by  a  fireplace  in  a  deserted  salon,  while  the  servants 
passed  to  and  fro  extinguishing  the  lights. 

22 


338  THE   J3RAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  Who  was  that  you  took  leave  of  with  such  emphatic 
courtesy  a  few  minutes  ago?  "  asked  Lady  Augusta,  as  she 
leaned  on  the  chimney-piece. 

"  Don't  you  know ;  don't  you  remember  him?  " 

"Not  in  the  least." 

"  It  was  Mr.  Temple  Bramleigh." 

''What,  mon  fils  Temple!  Why  didn't  he  come  and 
speak  to  me  ?  " 

"He  said  he  had  been  in  search  of  you  all  the  evening, 
and  even  asked  me  to  find  you  out." 

"These  Sevigne  curls  do  that;  no  one  knows  me.  Mon- 
signore  said  he  thought  I  was  a  younger  sister  just  come 
out,  and  was  gomg  to  warn  me  of  the  dangerous  rivalry. 
And  that  was  Temple?  His  little  bit  of  moustache  im- 
proves him.     I  suppose  they  call  him  good-looking  ?  " 

"Very  handsome  —  actually  handsome." 

"  Oh,  dear  !  "  sighed  the  other,  wearily  ;  "  one  likes  these 
gatherings,  but  it 's  always  pleasant  when  they  're  over ; 
don't  you  find  that?"  And  not  meeting  a  reply,  she  went 
on  :  "  That  tiresome  man.  Sir  Marcus  Cluff,  made  a  descent 
upon  me,  to  talk  of  —  what  do  you  think  ?  —  the  church  at 
Albano.  It  seems  our  parson  there  has  nothing  to  live  on 
during  the  winter  months,  and  he  is  expected  to  be  alive 
and  cheery  when  spring  comes  round  ;  and  Sir  Marcus  says, 
that  though  seals  do  this,  it 's  not  so  easy  for  a  curate ;  and 
so  I  said,  '  Why  does  n't  he  join  the  other  army?  There  's 
a  cardinal  yonder  wdll  take  him  into  his  regiment ;  '  and  Sir 
Marcus  could  n't  stand  this,  and  left  me."  She  paused, 
and  seemed  lost  in  a  deep  reverie,  and  then  half  murmured 
rather  than  said,  "  What  a  nice  touch  he  has  on  the  piano ; 
so  light  and  so  liquid  withal." 

"  Sir  Marcus,  do  you  mean?" 

"  Of  course  I  don't,"  said  she,  pettishly.  "I'm  talking 
of  Pracontal.  I  'm  sure  he  sings  —  he  says  not,  or  only  for 
himself;  and  so  I  told  him  he  must  sing  for  me,  and  he 
replied,  '  Willingly,  for  I  shall  then  be  beside  myself  with 
happiness.'  Just  fancy  a  Frenchman  trying  to  say  a  smart 
thing  in  English.  I  wonder  what  the  Culdufifs  will  think  of 
him?" 

"  Are  they  likely  to  have  an  opportunity  for  an  opinion?  " 


"A  RECEPTION"  AT  ROME.  339 

*'  Most  certainly  they  are.  I  have  asked  him  for  Friday. 
He  will  be  the  seventh  at  our  little  dinner." 

''  Not  possible,  Gusta  !     You  could  n't  have  done  this  !  " 

''  I  have,  I  give  you  my  word.  Is  there  any  reason  why  I 
shouldn't?" 

"  All  the  reason  in  the  world.  You  ask  your  relatives  to 
a  little  dinner,  which  implies  extreme  intimacy  and  familiar- 
ity ;  and  you  invite  to  meet  them  a  man  whom,  by  every 
sentiment  of  self-interest,  they  must  abhor." 

''  Cara  mia^  I  can't  listen  to  such  a  vulgar  argument. 
Monsieur  de  Pracontal  has  charming  personal  qualities.  I 
chatted  about  an  hour  with  him,  and  he  is  delightfully  amus- 
ing ;  he  '11  no  more  obtrude  his  claims  or  his  pretensions  than 
Lord  Culduff  will  speak  of  his  fifty  years  of  diplomatic  ser- 
vice. There  is  no  more  perfect  triumph  of  good-breeding 
than  when  it  enables  us  to  enjoy  each  other's  society  irre- 
spective of  scores  of  little  personal  accidents,  political 
estrangements,  and  the  like ;  and  to  show  you  that  I  have 
not  been  the  inconsiderate  creature  you  think  me,  I  actually 
did  ask  Pracontal  if  he  thought  that  meeting  the  Culduffs 
would  be  awkward  or  unpleasant  for  him,  and  he  said  he 
was  overjoyed  at  the  thought ;  that  I  could  not  have  done 
him  a  favor  he  would  prize  more  highly." 

*'^(?,  of  course,  is  very  vain  of  the  distinction.  It  is  an 
honor  he  never  could  have  so  much  as  dreamed  of." 

"I  don't  know  that.  I  half  suspect  he  is  a  gentleman 
who  does  not  take  a  depreciatory  estimate  of  either  himself 
or  his  prospects." 

''  At  all  events,  Gusta,  there  shall  be  no  ambuscade  in  the 
matter,  that  I  'm  determined  on.  The  Culduffs  shall  know 
whom  they  are  to  meet.  I  '11  write  a  note  to  them  before  I 
sleep." 

''How  angry  you  are  for  a  mere  nothing!  Do  you  im- 
agine that  the  people  who  sit  round  a  dinner-table  have  sworn 
vows  of  eternal  friendship  before  the  soup  ?  " 

"  You  are  too  provoking,  too  thoughtless,"  said  the  other, 
with  much  asperity  of  voice ;  and  taking  up  her  gloves  and 
her  fan  from  the  chimney-piece,  she  moved  rapidly  away  and 
left  the  room. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

SOME    "SALON    DIPLOMACIES." 

Lord  Culduff,  attked  in  a  very  gorgeous  dressing-gown 
and  a  cap  whose  gold  tassel  hung  down  below  his  ear,  was 
seated  at  a  writing-table,  every  detail  of  whose  appliances 
was  an  object  of  art.  From  a  little  golden  censer  at  his 
side  a  light  blue  smoke  curled,  that  diffused  a  delicious  per- 
fume through  the  room,  for  the  noble  Lord  held  it  that  these 
adventitious  aids  invariably  penetrated  through  the  sterner 
material  of  thought,  and  relieved  by  their  graceful  influence 
the  more  labored  efforts  of  the  intellect. 

He  had  that  morniug  been  preparing  a  very  careful  con- 
fidential despatch ;  he  meant  it  to  be  a  state  paper.  -  It  was 
a  favorite  theory  of  his,  that  the  Pope  might  be  exploiter 
—  and  his  own  phrase  must  be  employed  to  express  his 
meaning,  —  that  is,  that  for  certain  advantages,  not  very 
easily  defined,  nor  intelligible  at  first  blush,  the  Holy  Father 
might  be  most  profitably  employed  in  governing  Ireland. 
The  Pope,  in  fact,  in  return  for  certain  things  which  he  did 
not  want,  and  which  we  could  not  give  him  if  he  did,  was  to 
do  for  us  a  number  of  things  perfectly  impossible,  and  just 
as  valueless  had  they  been  possible.  The  whole  was  a 
grand  dissolving  view  of  millennial  Ireland,  with  all  the 
inhabitants  dressed  in  green  broadcloth,  singing,  "  God  save 
the  Queen ;  "  while  the  Pope  and  the  Sacred  College  were 
to  be  in  ecstasy  over  some  imaginary  concessions  of  the 
British  Government,  and  as  happy  over  these  supposed 
benefits  as  an  Indian  tribe  over  a  present  of  glass  beads 
from  Bu'mingham. 

The  noble  diplomatist  had  just  turned  a  very  pretty  phrase 
on  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  priest ;  his  one-sided  view  of 
life,  his  natural  credulity,  nurtured  by  church  observances, 


OF  THE 

'"UNIVERSITY 

OF 


SOME   "SALON  DIPLOMACIES.'*  341 

his  easily  satisfied  greed,  arising  from  the  limited  nature  of 
his  ambitions,  and,  lastly,  the  simplicity  of  character  engen- 
dered by  the  want  of  those  relations  of  the  family  which 
suggest  acute  study  of  moral  traits,  strongly  tinctured  with 
worldliness.  Rising  above  the  dialectics  of  the  "  Office,"  he 
had  soared  into  the  style  of  the  essayist.  It  was  to  be  one 
of  those  despatches  which  F.  O.  prints  in  blue-books,  and 
proudly  points  to,  to  show  that  her  sons  are  as  distinguished 
in  letters  as  they  are  dexterous  in  the  conduct  of  negotia- 
tions. He  had  just  read  aloud  a  very  high-sounding  sentence, 
when  Mr.  Temple  Bramleigh  entered,  and  in  that  nicely 
subdued  voice  which  private-secretaryship  teaches,  said, 
"Mr.   Cutbill  is  below,  my  Lord;  will  you  see  him?" 

"On  no  account!  The  porter  has  been  warned  not  to 
admit  him,  on  pain  of  dismissal.  See  to  it  that  I  am  not 
intruded  on  by  this  man." 

"  He  has  managed  to  get  in  somehow,  —  he  is  in  my  room 
this  moment." 

"  Get  rid  of  him,  then,  as  best  you  can.  I  can  only  repeat 
that  here  he  shall  not  come." 

"  I  think,  on  the  whole,  it  might  be  as  well  to  see  him ;  a 
few  minutes  would  suffice,"  said  Temple,  timidly. 

"And  why,  sir,  may  I  ask,  am  I  to  be  outraged  by  this 
man's  vulgar  presence,  even  for  a  few  minutes?  A  few 
minutes  of  unmitigated  rudeness  is  an  eternity  of  endurance  !  " 

"  He  threatens  a  statement  in  print;  he  has  a  letter  ready 
for  the  '  Times,'  "  muttered  Temple. 

"  This  is  what  we  have  come  to  in  England.  In  our  stupid 
worship  of  what  we  call  public  opinion,  we  have  raised  up 
the  most  despotic  tribunal  that  ever  decided  a  human  destiny. 
I  declare  solemnly,  I  'd  almost  as  soon  be  an  American.  I 
vow  to  heaven  that,  with  the  threat  of  Printing-House  Square 
over  me,  I  don't  see  how  much  worse  I  had  been  if  born  in 
Kansas  or  Ohio  !  " 

"It  is  a  regular  statement  of  the  Lisconnor  Mine,  drawn 
up  for  the  money  article,  and  if  only  a  tithe  of  it  be  true  —  " 

"  Why  should  it  be  true,  sir?  "  cried  the  noble  Lord,  in  a 
tone  that  was  almost  a  scream.  "  The  public  doe's  not  want 
truth,  —  what  they  want  is  a  scandal  —  a  libellous  slander  on 
men  of  rank,  men  of  note  like  myself.     The  vulgar  world 


342  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

is  never  so  happy  as  when  it  assumes  to  cancel  great  public 
services  by  some  contemptible  private  scandal.  Lord  Cul- 
duff  has  checkmated  the  Russian  Ambassador.  I  know  that, 
but  Moses  has  three  acceptances  of  his  protested  for  non- 
payment. Lord  Culduff  has  outwitted  the  Tuileries.  Why 
does  n't  he  pay  his  bootmaker?  That 's  their  chanson,  sir  — 
that's  the  burden  of  their  low  vulgar  song.  As  if  /,  and 
men  of  my  stamp,  were  amenable  to  every  petty  rule  and 
miserable  criticism  that  applies  to  a  clerk  in  Somerset  House. 
They  exact  from  us  the  services  of  a  giant,  and  then  would 
reduce  us  to  their  own  dwarfish  standard  whenever  there  is 
question  of  a  moral  estimate." 

He  walked  to  and  fro  as  he  spoke,  his  excitement  increas- 
ing at  every  word,  the  veins  in  his  forehead  swelling  and 
the  angles  of  his  mouth  twitching  with  a  spasmodic  motion. 
"  There,  su',"  cried  he,  with  a  wave  of  his  hand ;  "let  there 
be  no  more  mention  of  this  man.  I  shall  want  to  see  a  draft 
of  the  educational  project,  as  soon  as  it  is  completed.  That 
will  do ;  "  and  with  this  he  dismissed  him. 

No  sooner  was  the  door  closed  on  his  departure,  than 
Lord  Culduff  poured  some  scented  water  into  a  small  silver 
ewer,  and  proceeded  to  bathe  his  eyes  and  temples,  and 
then,  sitting  down  before  a  little  mirror,  he  smoothed  his  eye- 
brows, and  patiently  disposed  the  straggling  hairs  into  line. 
"  Who 's  there?  come  in,"  cried  he,  impatiently,  as  a  tap  was 
heard  at  the  door,  and  Mr.  Cutbill  entered,  with  the  bold 
and  assured  look  of  a  man  determined  on  an  insolence. 

"  So,  my  Lord,  your  servants  have  got  orders  not  to 
admit  me,  —  the  door  is  to  be  shut  against  meT'*^said  he, 
walking  boldly  forward  and  staring  fiercely  at  the  other's 
face. 

"  Quite  true,  however  you  came  to  know  it,"  said  Culduff, 
with  a  smile  of  the  easiest,  pleasantest  expression  imagi- 
nable. "  I  told  Temple  Bramleigh  this  morning  to  give  the 
orders  you  speak  of.  I  said  it  in  these  words :  Mr.  Cutbill 
got  in  here  a  couple  of  days  ago,  when  I  was  in  the  middle 
of  a  despatch,  and  we  got  talking  of  this,  that,  and  t'  other, 
and  the  end  was,  I  never  could  take  up  the  clew  of  what  I 
had  been  writing.  A  bore  interrupts  but  does  not  distract 
you:  a  clever  man  is  sure,  by  his  suggestiveness,  to  lead 


SOME   "SALON  DIPLOMACIES."  343 

you  away  to  other  realms  of  thought :  and  so  I  said,  a  strict 
quarantine  against  two  people  —  I  '11  neither  see  Antonelli 
nor  Cutbill." 

It  was  a  bold  shot,  and  few  men  would  have  had  courage 
for  such  effrontery ;  but  Lord  Culduff  could  do  these  things 
with  an  air  of  such  seeming  candor  and  naturalness,  nothing 
less  than  a  police-agent  could  have  questioned  its  sincerity. 
Had  a  man  of  his  own  rank  in  life  ' '  tried  it  on  "  in  this 
fashion,  Cutbill  would  have  detected  the  impudent  fraud  at 
once.  It  was  the  superb  dignity,  the  consummate  courtesy 
of  this  noble  Viscount,  aided  by  every  appliance  of  taste  and 
luxury  around  him,  that  assured  success  here. 

''  Take  that  chair,  Cutbill,  and  try  a  cheroot  —  I  know  you 
like  a  cheroot.  And  now  for  a  pleasant  gossip ;  for  I  idll 
give  myself  a  holiday  this  morning." 

*'  I  am  really  afraid  I  interrupt  you,"  began  Cutbill. 

"You  do;  I  won't  affect  to  deny  it.  You  squash  that 
despatch  yonder,  as  effectually  as  if  you  threw  the  ink  bottle 
over  it.  When  once  I  get  to  talk  with  a  man  like  you,  I 
can't  go  back  to  the  desk  again.  Don't  you  know  it  your- 
self? Haven't  you  felt  it  scores  of  times?  The  stupid 
man  is  got  rid  of  just  as  readily  as  you  throw  a  pebble  out 
of  your  shoe ;  it  is  your  clever  fellow  that  pricks  you  like  a 
nail." 

''  I  'm  sorry,  my  Lord,  you  should  feel  me  so  painfully," 
said  Cutbill,  laughing,  but  with  an  expression  that  showed 
how  the  flattery  had  touched  him. 

''You  don't  know  what  a  scrape  IVe  got  into  about 
2/0  w." 

''About  me?" 

"  Yes.  My  Lady  heard  you  were  here  the  other  morning, 
and  gave  me  a  regular  scolding  for  not  having  sent  to  tell 
her.     You  know  you  were  old  friends  in  Ireland." 

"  I  scarcely  ventured  to  hope  her  Ladyship  would  remember 
me." 

"  What!  Not  remember  your  admirable  imitation  of  the 
speakers  in  the  House  ?  —  your  charming  songs  that  you 
struck  off  with  such  facility,  —  the  very  best  impromptus  I 
ever  heard.  And,  mark  you,  Cutbill,  I  knew  Theodore 
Hook  intimately,  —  I  mean,  difference  of  age  and  such-like 


344  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

considered,  for  I  was  a  boy  at  the  time,  —  and  I  say  it 
advisedly,  you  are  better  than  Hook." 

*'  Oh,  my  Lord,  this  is  great  flattery  !  " 

''Hook  was  uncertain,  too.  He  was  what  the  French  call 
'  journalier.'     Now,  that,  you  are  not." 

Cutbill  smiled ;  for,  though  he  did  not  in  the  least  know 
the  quality  ascribed  to  him,  he  was  sure  it  was  complimen- 
tary, and  was  satisfied. 

"  Then  there  was  another  point  of  difference  between  you. 
Hook  was  a  snob.  He  had  the  uneasy  consciousness  of 
social  inferiority,  which  continually  drove  him  to  undue 
familiarities.  Now,  I  will  say,  I  never  met  a  man  so  free 
from  this  as  yourself.  I  have  made  a  positive  study  of  you, 
Cutbill,  and  I  protest  I  think,  as  regards  tact,  you  are 
unrivalled." 

"  I  can  only  say,  my  Lord,  that  I  never  knew  it." 

"After  all,"  said  Lord  Culduff,  rising  and  standins:  with 
his  back  to  the  fire,  while,  dropping  his  eyelids,  he  seemed  to 
fall  into  a  reflective  vein,  —  "after  all,  this,  as  regards 
worldly  success,  is  the  master  quality.  You  may  have  every 
gift  and  every  talent  and  every  grace,  and,  wanting  '  tact,' 
they  are  all  but  valueless." 

Cutbill  was  silent.  He  was  too  much  afraid  to  risk  his 
newly  acquired  reputation  by  the  utterance  of  even  a  word. 

"  How  do  you  like  Rome?  "  asked  his  Lordship,  abruptly. 

"  I  can  scarcely  say  ;  I  've  seen  very  little  of  it.  I  know 
nobody ;  and,  on  the  whole,  I  find  time  hang  heavily  enough 
on  me." 

"But  you  must  know  people,  Cutbill;  you  must  go  out. 
The  place  has  its  amusing  side ;  it 's  not  lili^e  what  we  have 
at  home.  There 's  another  tone,  another  style  ;  there  is  less 
concentration,   so  to  say,  but  there 's  more  '  finesse.'  " 

Cutbill  nodded,  as  though  he  followed  and  assented  to 
this. 

"  Where  the  priest  enters,  as  such  a  considerable  element 
of  society,  there  is  always  a  keener  study  of  character  than 
elsewhere.  In  other  places  you  ask,  What  a  man  does? 
here  you  inquire,  Why  he  does  it?" 

Cutbill  nodded  again. 

"  The  women,  too,  catch  up  the  light  delicate  touch  which 


if  UNIVERSITY 

OF 


......... 

X^iUFOR 


ME  "SALON  DIPLOMACIES."  845 


the  churchmen  are  such  adepts  in ;  and  conversation  is 
generally  neater  than  elsewhere.  In  a  fortnight  or  ten  days 
hence,  you  '11  see  this  all  yourself.  How  are  you  for  Italian  ? 
Do  you  speak  it  well?" 

"  Not  a  word,  my  Lord." 

"Never  mind.  French  will  do  perfectly.  I  declare  I 
think  we  all  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  First  Empke  for 
having  given  us  a  language  common  to  all  Europe.  Neither 
cooking  nor  good  manners  could  go  on  without  it,  and 
apropos  of  cooking,  when  will  you  dine?  They  are  good 
enough  to  say  here  that  my  cook  is  the  best  in  Rome. 
When  will  you  let  me  have  your  verdict  on  him?" 

Cutbill  felt  all  the  awkwardness  that  is  commonly  expe- 
rienced when  a  man  is  asked  to  be  his  own  inviter. 

"  To-day,"  continued  Lord  Culduff,  "  we  dine  at  the  Due 
de  Rignano's ;  w^e  have  promised  Lady  Augusta  for  Friday ; 
but  Saturday,  I  believe  Saturday  is  free.  Shall  we  say 
Saturday,  Cutbill  —  eight  for  half-past?  Now,  don't  fail  us. 
We  shall  have  a  few  people  in  the  evening,  so  make  no  other 
engagement.     B3^-b3^" 

Cutbill  muttered  out  his  acceptance,  and  retired,  half 
delighted  with  his  success,  and  half  distrustful  as  to  whether 
he  had  done  what  he  had  come  to  do,  or  whether,  in  not 
approaching  the  subject,  he  had  not  earned  a  stronger  claim 
to  the  possession  of  that  "  tact"  which  his  Lordship  had  so 
much  admired  in  him. 

"I'm  sure  he 's  an  old  fox ;  but  he  's  wonderfully  agree- 
able," muttered  he,  as  he  descended  the  stairs.  It  was  only 
as  he  turned  into  the  Piazzo  di  Spagna,  and  saw  L'Estrange 
standing  looking  in  at  a  print-shop,  that  he  remembered  how 
he  had  left  the  curate  to  wait  for  him,  while  he  made  his 
visit. 

"I'm  afraid,  from  your  look,"  said  L'Estrange,  "that 
you  have  no  very  good  news  for  me.     Am  I  right?  " 

"  Well,"  said  the  other,  in  some  confusion,  "  I  won't  say 
that  I  have  anything  one  could  call  exactly  reassuring  to 
tell." 

"  Did  he  suffer  you  to  go  into  the  question  fully? 
Did  he  show  a  disposition  to  treat  the  matter  with  any 
consideration  ?  " 


346  THE  BKAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

Cutbill  shook  his  head.  The  consciousness  that  he  had 
done  nothing,  had  not  even  broached  the  subject  for  which 
his  visit  was  ostensibly  made,  overwhelmed  him  with  shame  ; 
and  he  had  not  the  courage  to  avow  how  he  had  neglected 
the  trust  committed  to  him. 

"  Don't  mince  matters  with  me,  for  the  sake  of  sparing 
me,"  continued  L'Estrange.  "I  never  closed  my  eyes  last 
night,  thinking  over  it  all ;  and  you  can't  lower  me  in  my 
own  esteem  below  what  I  now  feel.  Out  with  it,  then,  and 
let  me  hear  the  worst,  if  I  must  hear  it." 

''You  must  have  a  little  patience.  Things  are  not  always 
so  bad  as  they  look.  I'm  to  have  another  interview;  and 
though  I  won't  go  so  far  as  to  bid  you  hope,  I  'd  be  sorry  to 
say  despair.     I  'm  to  see  him  again  on  Saturday." 

"Two  more  days  and  nights  of  anxiety  and  waiting! 
But  I  suppose  I  deserve  it  all,  and  worse.  It  was  in  a  spirit 
of  greed  —  ay,  of  gambling  —  that  I  made  this  venture  ;  and 
if  the  punishment  could  fall  on  myself  alone,  I  deserve  it 

all." 

"  Come,  come,  don't  take  on  in  that  fashion;  never  say 
die.  When  do  the  Bramleighs  arrive?  —  don't  you  expect 
them  this  week  ?  " 

"They  promised  to  eat  their  Christmas  dinner  with  us; 
but  shall  we  have  one  to  give  them?  You  know,  I  suppose, 
how  matters  have  gone  at  Albano?  The  church  patrons 
have  quarrelled,  and  each  has  withdrawn  his  name.  No: 
Mrs.  Trumpler  remains,  and  she  has  drawn  out  a  new  code 
of  her  own  —  a  thirty-nine  articles  of  her  own  devising, 
which  I  must  subscribe,  or  forfeit  her  support.  The  great 
feature  of  it  all  is,  that  the  Bible  is  never  to  be  quoted 
except  to  disprove  it ;  so  that  what  a  man  lacks  in  scholar- 
ship, he  may  make  up  in  scepticism." 

"And  do  you  take  to  that?" 

"Not  exactly;  and  in  consequence  I  have  resigned  my 
chaplaincy,  and  this  morning  I  received  a  notice  to  vacate 
my  house  by  the  last  day  of  the  year,  and  go  — I  don't 
think  it  was  suggested  where  to  in  particular  —  but  here 
comes  my  sister  —  let  us  talk  of  something  else." 

"  Oh,  George,"  cried  she,  "  I  have  got  you  such  a  nice 
warm  coat  for  your  visiting  in  the  cold  weather.     Will  you 


SOME   "SALON  DIPLOMACIES.'*  347 

promise  me  to  wear  it,  though  you  will  look  like  a  bear? 
How  d'ye  do,  Mr.  Cutbill?" 

"I'm  bobbish,  miss,  thank  you.     And  you?" 
"I   don't  exactly  know  if   I'm  bobbish,   but   I'm   cer- 
tainly in  good  spirits,  for  I  have  heard  from  some  very  dear 
friends,  who  are  on  their  way  to  see,  and  spend  the  Christ- 
mas with  us.'* 

L'Estrange  turned  a  sudden  glance  on  Cutbill.  It  was 
a  mere  glance,  but  it  said  more  than  words,  and  was  so 
inexpressibly  sad  besides,  that  the  other  muttered  a  hur- 
ried good-bye  and  left  them. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 


A    LONG    TETE-A-TETE. 


Pracontal  and  Longworth  sat  at  breakfast  at  Freytag's 
Hotel  at  Rome.  They  were  splendidly  lodged,  and  the  table 
was  spread  with  all  the  luxury  and  abundance  which  are 
usually  diplayed  where  well-paying  guests  are  treated  by 
wise  inn-keepers.  Fruit  and  flowers  decorated  the  board, 
arranged  as  a  painter's  eye  might  have  suggested,  and 
nothing  was  wanting  that  could  gratify  the  sense  of  sight 
or  tempt  the  palate. 

"After  all,"  said  Longworth,  "  your  song-writer  blundered 
when  he  wrote  '  I'amour.'  It  is  'rargeut'  that '  makes  the 
world  go  round.'  Look  at  that  table,  and  say  what  sunshine 
the  morning  breaks  with,  when  one  doesn't  fret  about  the 
bill." 

"You  are  right,  O  Philip,"  said  the  other.  "Let  people 
say  what  they  may,  men  love  those  who  spend  money.  See 
what  a  popularity  follows  the  Empire  in  France,  and  what  is 
its  chief  claim?  Just  what  you  said  a  moment  back.  It 
never  frets  about  the  bill.  Contrast  the  splendor  of  such  a 
Government  with  the  mean  mercantile  spirit  of  your  British 
Parliament,  higgling  over  contracts  and  cutting  down  clerks' 
salaries,  as  though  the  nation  were  glorified  when  its  ser- 
vants wore  broken  boots  and  patched  pantaloons." 

"The  world  needs  spendthrifts  as  it  needs  tornadoes. 
The  whirlwind  purifies  even  as  it  devastates." 

"  How  grand  you  are  at  an  aphorism,  Philip!  You  have 
all  the  pomp  of  the  pulpit  when  you  deliver  a  mere  plati- 
tude." 

"  To  a  Frenchman,  everything  is  a  platitude  that  is  not  a 
paradox." 

"  Go  on,  your  vein  is  wonderful  this  morning." 


A  LONG  TETE-A-TETE.  849 

"A  Frenchman  is  the  travesty  of  human  nature;  every 
sentiment  of  his  is  the  parody  of  what  it  ought  to  be.  He 
is  grave  over  trifles  and  evokes  mirth  out  of  the  deepest 
melancholy ;  he  takes  sweet  wine  with  his  oysters,  and  when 
the  post  has  brought  him  letters  that  may  actually  decide 
his  destiny,  he  throws  them  aside  to  read  a  critique  on  the 
last  ballet,  or  revive  his  recollections  of  its  delight  by  gaz- 
ing on  a  colored  print  of  the  ballerina." 

44  I'm  getting  tired  of  the  Gitana,"  said  Pracontal,  throw- 
ing the  picture  from  him  ;  "  hand  me  the  chocolate.  As  to 
the  letters,  I  have  kept  them  for  you  to  read,  for,  although 
I  know  your  spluttering,  splashing,  hissing  language,  for  all 
purposes  of  talk,  its  law  jargon  is  quite  beyond  me." 

''Your  lawyer  —  so  far  as  I  have  seen  —  is  most  careful 
in  his  avoidance  of  technicals  with  you;  he  writes  clearly 
and  succinctly." 

"  Break  open  that  great  packet,  and  tell  me  about  its  clear 
and  distinct  contents." 

"  I  said  succinct,  not  distinct,  O  man  of  many  mistakes. 
This  is  from  Kelson  himself,  and  contains  an  enclosure." 
He  broke  the  seal  as  he  spoke,  and  read,  — 

f 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  am  exceedingly  distressed  to  be  obliged  to  inform 

you  that  the  arrangement  which,  in  my  last  letter,  I  had  under- 
stood to  be  finally  and  satisfactorily  concluded  between  myself  on 
your  part,  and  Mr.  Sedley  of  Furnival's  Inn,  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Bramleigh,  is  now  rescinded  and  broken,  Mr.  Bramleigh  having 
entered  a  formal  protest,  denying  all  concurrence  or  approval, 
and  in  evidence  of  his  dissent  has  actually  given  notice  of  action 
against  his  solicitor,  for  unauthorized  procedure.  The  bills  there- 
fore drawn  by  you  I  herewith  return  as  no  longer  negotiable.  I 
am  forced  to  express  not  only  my  surprise,  but  my  indignation,  at 
the  mode  in  which  we  have  been  treated  in  this  transaction. 
Awaiting  your  instructions  as  to  what  step  you  will  deem  it 
advisable  to  take  next,  — 

I  am,  dear  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  Kelson. 

"  This  is  a  bad  affair,"  said  Longworth.  "  That  twenty 
thousand  that  you  thought  to  have  lived  on  for  two  years, 
astonishing  the  vulgar  world,  like  some  Count  of  Monte 
Cristo,  has    proved  a  dissolving  view,  and  there  you    sit  a 


350  THE  BRAI^ILEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

candidate  for  one  of  the  Pope's  prisons,  which,  if  accounts 
speak  truly,  are  about  the  vilest  dens  of  squalor  and  misery 
in  Europe." 

''  Put  a  lump  of  ice  in  my  glass,  and  fill  it  up  with 
champagne.  It  was  only  yesterday  I  was  thinking  whether 
I  'd  not  have  myself  christened  Esau,  and  it  is  such  a  relief 
to  me  now  to  feel  that  I  need  not.  Monsieur  Le  Comte 
Pracontal  de  Bramleigh,  I  have  the  honor  to  drink  your 
health."  As  he  spoke  he  drained  his  glass,  and  held  it  out 
to  be  refilled. 

"No;  I'll  give  you  no  more  wine.  You'll  need  all  the 
calm  and  consideration  you  can  command  to  answer  this 
letter,  which  requires  prompt  reply.  And  as  to  Esau,  my 
friend,  the  parallel  scarcely  holds,  for  when  he  negotiated 
the  sale  of  his  reversion  he  was  next  of  kin  beyond  dispute." 
''I  wonder  what  would  become  of  you  if  you  could  not 
cavil.     I  never  knew  any  man  so  fond  of  a  contradiction." 

' '  Be  just,  and  admit  that  you  give  me  some  splendid 
opportunities.  No,  I  '11  not  let  you  have  more  wine.  Kel- 
son's letter  must  be  answered,  and  we  must  think  seriously 
over  what  is  to  be  done." 

''Ma  foil  there  is  nothing  to  be  done.  Mr.  Bramleigh 
challenges  me  to  a  duel,  because  he  knows  I  have  no  arms. 
He  appeals  to  the  law,  which  is  the  very  costliest  of  all  the 
costly  things  in  your  dear  country.  If  you  could  persuade 
him  to  believe  that  this  is  not  fair  — not  even  generous  — 
perhaps  he  would  have  the  good  manners  to  quit  the  prem- 
ises and  send  me  the  key.  Short  of  that,  I  see  nothing  to 
be  done." 

"I  have  told  you  already,  and  I  tell  you  once  more,  if 
Kelson  is  of  opinion  that  your  case  is  good  enough  to  go  to 
trial,  you  shall  not  want  funds  to  meet  law  expenses." 

"  He  has  told  me  so,  over  and  over.  He  has  said  he  shall 
try  the  case  by  —  what  is  it  you  call  it  ?  " 

*'  I  know  what  you  mean;  he  will  proceed  by  ejectment 
to  try  title." 

''  This  need  not  cost  very  heavily,  and  will  serve  to  open 
the  campaign.  He  will  put  me  on  '  the  table,'  as  he  calls  it, 
and  I  shall  be  interrogated,  and  worried,  and  tormented  — 
perhaps,  too,  insulted,    at   times;  and   I   am   to   keep   my 


A  LONG  TETE-A-TETE.  351 

temper,  resent  nothing  —  not  even  when  they  impugn  my 
honor  or  my  truthfulness  —  for  that  there  are  two  grand 
principles  of  British  lav7 ;  one  is,  no  man  need  say  any  ill  of 
himself,  nor  is  he  ever  to  mind  what  ill  another  may  say  of 
him." 

"  Did  he  tell  you  that?  "  said  Longworth,  laughing. 

"  Not  exactly  in  these  words,  but  it  amounted  to  the 
same.     Do  give  me  a  little  wine ;  I  am  hoarse  with  talking." 

"Not  a  drop.  Tell  me  now,  where  are  these  letters,  and 
that  journal  of  your  grandfather's  that  you  showed  me  ?  " 

"  Kelson  has  them  all.  Kelson  has  everything.  When  I 
believed  the  affair  to  be  ended,  I  told  him  he  might  do  what 
he  pleased  with  them,  if  he  only  restored  to  me  that  colored 
sketch  of  my  beautiful  grandmother." 

''There,  there!  don't  get  emotional,  or  I  have  done  with 
you.  I  will  write  to  Kelson  to-day.  Leave  all  to  us  and 
don't  meddle  in  any  way." 

"  That  you  may  rely  upon  with  confidence.  No  one  ever 
yet  accused  me  of  occupying  myself  with  anything  I  could 
possibly  avoid.     Do  you  want  me  any  more? " 

"  I  don't  think  so ;  but  why  do  you  ask?  Where  are  you 
going?" 

"  I  have  a  rendezvous  this  morning.  I  am  to  be  three 
miles  from  this  at  one  o'clock.  I  am  to  be  at  the  tomb  of 
Cecilia  Metella,  to  meet  the  Lady  Augusta  Bramleigh,  with 
a  large  party,  on  horseback,  and  we  are  to  go  somewhere 
and  see  something,  and  to  dine,  ma  foi  —  I  forget  where." 

"  I  think,  all  things  considered,"  said  Longworth,  gravely, 
"  I  would  advise  some  reserve  as  to  intimacy  with  that 
family." 

"You  distrust  my  discretion.  You  imagine  that  in  my 
unguarded  freedom  of  talking  I  shall  say  many  things  which 
had  been  better  unsaid  ;   is  n't  that  so?  " 

"  Perhaps  I  do ;  at  all  events,  I  know  the  situation  is  one 
that  would  be  intolerable  to  myself." 

"  Not  to  me  though,  not  to  me.  It  is  the  very  difficulty, 
the  tension,  so  to  say,  that  makes  it  enticing.  I  have  I  can- 
not tell  you  what  enjoyment  in  a  position  where,  b}^  the 
slightest  movement  to  this  side  or  that,  you  lose  your  balance 
and  fall.     I  like  —  I  delight  in  the  narrow  path  with  the 


352  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

precipice  at  each  hand,  where  a  false  step  is  destruction. 
The  wish  to  live  is  never  so  strong  as  when  life  is  in  danger." 

"  You  are  a  heart  and  soul  gambler." 

"  Confess,  however,  I  am  beau  joueur.  I  know  how  to 
lose."  And  muttering  something  over  the  lateness  of  the 
hour,  he  snatched  up  his  hat  and  hurried  away. 

As  Pracontal  was  hurrying  to  the  place  of  meeting  with 
all  the  speed  of  his  horse,  a  servant  met  him  with  a  note 
from  Lady  Augusta.  "  She  did  not  feel  well  enough,"  she 
said,  "  for  a  ride ;  she  had  a  headache,  and  begged  he  would 
come  and  pay  her  a  visits  and  dine  too,  if  he  was  not  afraid 
of  a  dinner  en  tete  a  tete.'^ 

Overjoyed  with  the  familiar  tone  of  this  note,  he  hurried 
back  to  Rome,  and  soon  found  himself  in  the  little  drawing' 
room  which  looked  out  upon  the  Borghese  garden,  and  where 
a  servant  told  him  her  Ladyship  would  soon  appear. 

"  This  is  very  kind  of  you  and  very  nice,"  said  she, 
entering  and  giving  him  her  hand  in  a  languid  sort  of 
manner,  "to  come  here  and  give  up  the  delights  of  the 
picnic,  with  its  pretty  women  and  champagne,  and  ixites- 
aux-truffes.  No  ;  you  are  to  sit  yonder.  I  don't  know  you 
long  enough  to  advance  you  to  the  privilege  of  that  low 
chair  next  my  sofa." 

"  I  am  your  slave,  even  to  martyrdom,"  said  he,  bowing, 
and  sitting  down  where  she  had  bid  him. 

"  You  are  aware,  I  hope,"  said  she,  in  the  same  wearied 
tone,  "  that  it  is  very  wrong  of  us  to  becomg  acquainted. 
That,  connected  as  I  am  with  the  Bramleighs,  I  ought  not 
to  have  permitted  you  to  be  presented  to  me.  My  sister  is 
shocked  at  the  impropriety,  and  as  for  Lord  and  Lady 
Culduff,  rather  than  meet  you  at  dinner  on  Friday  they  have 
left  Rome." 

"Left  Rome?" 

"  Yes,  gone  to  Naples.  To  be  sure,  he  ought  to  have 
been  there  a  month  ago ;  he  was  accredited  to  that  Court, 
and  he  had  nothing  to  do  here,  which  was,  however  to  him 
an  excellent  reason  for  being  here.  Why  do  you  make  me 
talk  so  much?  it  sets  my  head  splitting,  and  I  sent  for  you 
to  listen  to  you,  and  not  to  have  any  worry  of  talking  my- 
self —  there,  begin." 


A  LONG  TETE-A-TETE.  353 

*<  What  shall  I  talk  about?  " 

"ADything  you  like,  only  not  politics,  or  religion,  or 
literature,  or  fine  arts  —  people  are  so  unnatural  when  they 
discuss  these ;  nor  —  not  society  and  gossip,  for  then  they 
grow  spiteful  and  ill-natured ;  nor  about  myself,  for  then 
you  'd  fancy  you  were  in  love  with  me,  and  I  'd  have  to 
shut  the  door  against  you.  Oh,  how  my  head  aches !  Give 
me  that  flacon,  pray ;  thanks,  now  go  back  to  your  place." 

''  Shall  I  read  to  you?" 

"  No  :  there  's  nothing  I  detest  so  much  as  being  read  to. 
One  never  follows  the  book ;  it  is  the  tone  and  accent  of 
the  reader,  something  in  his  voice,  something  one  fancies 
an  affectation  attracts  attention,  and  you  remark  how  hia 
hair  is  parted,  or  how  his  boots  are  made.  Oh,  why  ivill 
you  torment  me  this  way  —  I  don't  want  to  talk  and  you 
persist  in  asking  me  questions." 

"  If  you  had  not  a  headache  I'd  sing  for  you." 

''No,  I'll  not  let  you  sing  to  me  alone;  that  would  be 
quite  wrong.  Remember,  monsieur,  and  when  I  say  re- 
member, I  mean  never  forget,  I  am  excessively  prude ;  not 
of  that  school  of  prudery  that  repels,  but  of  that  higher  tone 
which  declares  a  freedom  impossible.  Do  you  compre- 
hend?" 

"  Perfectly,  madame,"  said  he,  bowing  with  an  air  of  an 
ideal  reverence. 

"  Now,  then,  that  we  have  settled  the  preliminaries  of  our 
—  oh,  dear !  "  burst  she  out,  "  see  what  it  is  to  be  speaking 
French  !     I  had  almost  said  of  '  our  friendship.' " 

"And  why  not,  madame?  Can  you  possibly  entertain  a 
doubt  of  that  sentiment,  at  once  devoted  and  respectful, 
which  has  brought  me  to  your  feet?" 

"  I  never  do  doubt  about  anything  that  I  want  to  believe ; 
at  least  till  I  change  my  mind  on  it,  for  I  am  —  yes,  I  am 
very  capricious.  I  am  charmed  with  you  to-day;  but  do 
not  be  surprised  if  my  servant  shuts  the  door  against  you 
to-morrow." 

"  Madame,  you  drive  me  to  the  brink  of  despair." 

"  I  'm  sure  of  that,"  said  she,  laughing.  "  I  have  driven 
several  that  far;  biit,  strange^ to  say,  I  never  knew  one  who 
went  over." 

23 


354  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  Do  not  push  torture  to  insufferance,  madame,"  cried  he, 
theatrically:  but,  instead  of  laughing  at  him,  she  looked 
really  alarmed  at  his  words. 

"bh,  Monsieur  Pracontal,"  cried  she,  suddenly,  "was 
that  little  song  you  sung  last  night  your  own?  I  mean 
words  and  music  both  ?  " 

He  bowed  with  an  air  of  modesty. 

"What  a  nice  talent,  to  be  able  to  compose  and  write 
verses  too !  But  they  tell  me  you  are  horribly  satirical ; 
that  you  make  rhymes  on  people  impromptu,  and  sing  them 
in  the  very  room  with  them." 

"  Only,  madame,  when  they  are,  what  you  call  in  English, 
bores." 

"But  I  like  bores,  they  are  so  nice  and  dull.  Do  you 
know,  Monsieur  Pracontal,  if  it  were  not  for  bores,  we 
English  would  have  no  distinctive  nationality?  Our  bores 
are  essentially  our  own,  and  unlike  all  the  other  species  of 
the  creature  elsewhere." 

"  I  respect  them,  and  I  bow  to  their  superiority." 

"  It  was  very  kind,  very  nice  of  you,  to  give  up  your  ride 
over  the  Campagna,  and  come  here  to  sit  with  me  in  one  of 
my  dull  moods,  for  to-day  I  am  very  dull  and  dispirited.  I 
have  an  odious  headache,  and  my  sister  has  been  scolding 
me,  and  I  have  had  such  unpleasant  letters.  Altogether,  it 
is  a  dark  day  with  me." 

"I  am  inexpressibl}^  grieved." 

"  Of  course  you  are;  and  so  I  told  my  sister  you  would 
be,  when  she  said  it  was  a  great  imprudence  on  my  part  to 
admit  you.  Not  that  I  don't  agree  with  her  in  great  part, 
but  I  do  detest  being  dictated  to  ;  is  n't  it  insupportable?  " 

"  Quite  so;  the  very  worst  form  of  slavery." 

"  It 's  true  you  want  to  take  away  the  Bramleigh  estates  ; 
but,  as  I  said  to  my  sister,  does  not  every  one  wish  to  win 
when  he  plays  a  game,  and  do  you  detest  your  adversary 
for  so  natural  a  desire?  I  suppose  if  you  have  a  trump 
more  than  the  Bramleigh's,  you'll  carry  off  the  stakes." 

"Ah,  madame,  how  glad  would  I  be  to  lay  my  cards 
on  the  table,  if  I  could  be  sure  of  such  an  opponent  as 
yourself." 

"Yes,  I  am  generous.     It's  the  one  thing  I  can  say  for 


A  LONG  TETE-A-TETE.  355 

mj'self.  I  'm  all  for  fighting  the  battle  of  life  honorably 
and  courteously,  though  I  must  say  one  is  sure  to  lose  where 
the  others  are  not  equally  high-minded.  Now  I  put  it  to 
yourself,  M.  Pracoutal,  and  I  ask,  was  it  fair,  was  it  honest, 
was  it  decent  of  Colonel  Bramleigh,  knowing  the  insecure 
title  by  which  he  held  his  estate,  to  make  me  his  wife? 
You  know,  of  course,  the  difference  of  rank  that  separated 
us ;  you  know  who  I  was  —  I  can't  say  am,  because  my 
family  have  never  forgiven  me  the  mesalliance ;  therefore,  I 
say,  was  it  not  atrocious  in  him  to  make  a  settlement  which 
he  felt  must  be  a  mockery  ?  " 

^'  Perhaps,  madame,  he  may  have  regarded  our  pretensions 
dTs  of  little  moment ;  indeed,  I  believe  he  treated  my  father's 
demands  with  much  hauteur." 

"  Still,  he  knew  there  was  a  claim,  and  a  claimant,  when 
he  married  me,  and  this  can  neither  be  denied  nor  defended." 

"  Ah,  madame  !  "  sighed  he,  "  who  would  be  stopped  by 
scruples  in  such  a  cause  ?  " 

"  No,  there  was  nothing  of  love  in  it;  he  wanted  rank,  he 
wanted  high  connections.  He  was  fond  of  me,  after  his 
fashion,  I  've  no  doubt,  but  he  was  far  more  proud  than  fond. 
I  often  fancied  he  must  have  had  something  on  his  mind,  he 
would  be  so  abstracted  at  times,  and  so  depressed,  and  then 
he  would  seem  as  if  he  wanted  to  tell  me  a  secret,  but  had 
not  the  courage  for  it,  and  I  set  it  down  to  something  quite 
different.  I  thought  —  no  matter  what  I  thought  —  but  it 
gave  me  no  uneasiness,  for,  of  course,  I  never  dreamed  of 
being  jealous;  but  that  it  should  be  so  bad  as  this  never 
occurred  to  me  —  never  !  " 

"I  am  only  surprised  that  Colonel  Bramleigh  never 
thought  it  worth  his  while  to  treat  with  my  father,  who, 
all  things  considered,  would  have  been  easily  dealt  with ;  he 
was  always  sl  pauvre  diable,  out  of  one  scrape  to  fall  into 
another;  so  reckless  that  the  very  smallest  help  ever  seemed 
to  him  quite  sufficient  to  brave  life  with.'* 

"I  know  nothing  of  the  story;  tell  it  to  me." 

"It  is  very  long,  very  tiresome,  and  incumbered  with 
details  of  dates  and  eras.  I  doubt  you  'd  have  patience  for 
it;  but  if  you  think  you  would,  I  'm  ready.'* 

"Begin,  then;  only  don't  make  it  more  confused  or  more 


356  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

tangled  than  you  can  help,  and  give  me  no  dates  —  I  hate 
dates." 

Pracontal  was  silent  for  a  moment  or  two,  as  if  reflect- 
ing ;  and  then,  drawing  his  chair  a  little  nearer  to  her  sofa, 
he  leaned  his  forehead  on  his  hand,  and  in  a  low,  but  dis- 
tinct voice,   began;  — 

"When  Colonel  Bramleigh's  father  was  yet  a  young  man, 
a  matter  of  business  required  his  presence  in  Ireland.  He 
came  to  see  a  very  splendid  mansion  then  being  built  by  a 
rich  nobleman,  on  which  his  house  had  advanced  a  large 
sum  by  way  of  mortgage." 

"Mon  cher  M.  Pracontal,  must  we  begin  so  far  back? 
It  is  like  the  Plaideur  in  Moliere,  who  commences,  'Quand 
je  vois  le  soleil,  quand  je  vols  la  lune  — '" 

"Very  true;  but  1  must  begin  at  the  beginning  of  all 
things,  and,  with  a  little  patience,  I  '11  soon  get  further. 
Mr.  Montague  Bramleigh  made  acquaintance  in  Ireland 
with  a  certain  Italian  painter  called  Giacomo  Lami,  who 
had  been  brought  over  from  Rome  to  paint  the  frescos  of 
this  great  house.  This  Lami  —  very  poor  and  very  humble, 
ignoble,  if  you  like  to  say  so  —  had  a  daughter  of  surpass- 
ing beauty.  She  was  so  very  lovely  that  Giacomo  was 
accustomed  to  introduce  her  into  almost  all  his  frescos,  for 
she  had  such  variety  of  expression,  so  many  reflets^  as  one 
may  say,  of  character  in  her  look,  that  she  was  a  Madonna 
here,  a  Flora  there,  now  a  Magdalene,  now  a  Dido.  But 
you  need  not  take  my  word  for  it;  here  she  is  as  a  Danae." 
And  he  opened  his  watch-case  as  he  spoke,  and  displayed 
a  small  miniature  in  enamel,  of  marvellous  beauty  and 
captivation. 

"  Oh,  was  she  really  like  this?  " 

"That  was  copied  from  a  picture  of  her  at  St.  Servain, 
when  she  was  eighteen,  immediately  before  she  accom- 
panied her  father  to  Ireland;  and  in  Giacomo's  sketch- 
book, which  I  hope  one  of  these  days  to  have  the  honor  of 
showing  to  you,  there  is  a  memorandum  saying  that  this 
portrait  of  Enrichetta  was  the  best  likeness  of  her  he  had 
ever  made.  He  had  a  younger  daughter  called  Carlotta, 
also  handsome,  but  vastly  inferior  in  beauty  to  my  grand- 
mother." 


A  LONG  TETE-A-TETE.  357 

"  Your  grandmother  ?  " 

"Forgive  me,  madame,  if  I  have  anticipated;  but  Enri- 
chetta  Lami  became  the  wife  of  Montague  Bramleigh.     The 
young  man,  captivated  by  her  marvellous  beauty,  and  en- 
chanted by  a  winning  grace  of  manner,  in  w^hich  it  appears 
she  excelled,  made  his  court  to  her  and  married  her.  ^  The 
ceremony  of  marriage  presented  no  difficulty,  as  Lami  was 
a  member  of  some   sect    of   Waldensian   Protestants,  who 
claim  a  sort  of  affinity  with  the  Anglican  Church,  and  they 
were  married  in  the  parish  church  by  the  minister,  and  duly 
registered  in  the  registry-book    of   the  parish.     All    these 
matters  are  detailed  in  this  book  of  Giacomo  Lami's,  which 
was  at  once  account-book  and  sketch-book  and  journal  and, 
indeed,   family  history.     It  is  a  volume  will,   I   am   sure, 
amuse  you;  for,  amongst  sketches  and  studies  for  pictures, 
there  are  the  drollest  little  details  of  domestic  events,  with 
passing  notices  of  the  political  circumstances  of  the  time 
—  for  old  Giacomo  was  a  conspirator  and  a  Carbonaro,  and 
Heaven  knows  what  else.     He  even  involved  himself  in  the 
Irish  troubles,    and  was  so  far  compromised   that  he  was 
obliged  to  fly  the  country  and  get  over  to  Holland,  which 
he  did,  taking  his  two  daughters  with  him.     It  has  never 
been  clearly  ascertained  whether  Montague  Bramleigh  had 
quarrelled  with  his  wife  or  consented  to  her  accompanying 
her  father;  for,  while  there  were  letters  from  him  to  her  full 
of  affection  and  regard,  there  are  some  strange  passages  in 
Giacomo's  diary  that  seem  to  hint  at  estrangement  and  cold- 
ness.     When  her  child,  my  father,  was  born,  she  pressed 
Bramleigh  strongly  to  come  over  to  the  christening;  but, 
though  he  promised  at  first,  and  appeared  overjoyed  at  the 
birth  of  his  heir,  he  made  repeated  pretexts  of  this  or  that 
engagement,   and  ended    by  not  coming.     Old  Lami  must 
have  given  way  to  some  outburst  of  anger  at  this  neglect 
and  desertion,   for   he    sent   back   Bramleigh's   letters  un- 
opened; and  the  poor  Enrichetta,  after  struggling  bravely 
for  several  months  under  this  heartless  and  cruel  treatment, 
sunk  and  died.     The  old  man  wandered  away  towards  the 
south  of  Europe  after  this,  taking  with  him  his  grandchild 
and  his  remaining  daughter;  and  the  first  entry  we  find  in 
his  diary  is  about  three  years  later,  where  we  read,  'Cham- 


358        THE  bkajMLEighs  of  bishop's  folly. 

5^1'y^  —  Must  leave  this,  where  I  thought  I  had  at  last  found 
a  home.  Niccolo  Baldassare  is  bent  on  gaining  Caiiotta's 
affections.  Were  they  to  marry  it  would  be  the  ruin  of 
both.     Each  has  the  same  faults  as  the  other.' 

"  And  later  on,  — 

*"Had  an  explanation  with  N.  B.,  who  declares  that, 
with  or  without  my  consent,  he  will  make  C.  his  wife.  I 
have  threatened  to  bring  him  before  the  Council;  but  he 
defies  me,  and  says  he  is  ready  to  abandon  the  society  rather 
than  give  her  up.     I  must  quit  this  secretly  and  promptly. ' 

"We  next  find  him  at  Treviso,  where  he  was  painting  the 
Basilica  of  St.  Guedolfo,  and  here  he  speaks  of  himself  as 
a  lonely  old  man,  deserted  and  forsaken,  showing  that  his 
daughter  had  left  him  some  time  before.  He  alludes  to 
offers  that  )iad  been  made  him  to  go  to  England;  but 
declares  that  nothing  would  induce  him  to  set  foot  in  that 
country  more.  One  passage  would  imply  that  Carlotta,  on 
leaving  home,  took  her  sister's  boy  with  her,  for  in  the  old 
man's  writing  there  are  these  words,  — 

"  'I  do  not  want  to  hear  more  of  them;  but  I  would  wish 
tidings  of  the  boy.     I  have  dreamed  of  him  twice.' 

"From  that  time  forth  the  journal  merely  records  the 
places  he  stopped  at,  the  works  he  was  engaged  in,  and  the 
sums  he  received  in  payment.  For  the  most  part,  his  last 
labors  were  in  out-of-the-way,  obscure  spots,  where  he 
worked  for  mere  subsistence;  and  of  how  long  he  lived 
there,  and  where  he  died,  there  is  no  trace'. 

"  Do  I  weary  you,  my  dear  lady,  with  these  small  details 
of  very  humble  people,  or  do  you  really  bestow  any  interest 
on  my  story  ?  " 

"I  like  it  of  all  things.  I  only  want  to  follow  Carlotta's 
history  now,   and  learn  what  became  of  her." 

"Of  her  fate  and  fortune  I  know  nothing.  Indeed,  all 
that  I  have  been  telling  you  heretofore  I  have  gleaned  from 
that  book  and  some  old  letters  of  my  great-grandfather's. 
My  own  history  I  will  not  inflict  upon  you  —  at  least  not 
now.  I  was  a  student  of  the  Naval  College  of  Genoa  till 
I  was  fourteen,  and  called  Anatole  Pracontal,  'dit'  Lami; 
but  who  had  entered  me  on  the  books  of  the  college,  who 
paid  for  me  or  interested  himself  about  me,  I  never  knew. 


A  LONG  TETE-A-TETE.  859 

"A  boyish  scrape  I  fell  into  induced  me  to  run  away 
from  the  college.  I  took  refuge  in  a  small  felucca,  which 
landed  me  at  Algiers,  where  I  entered 'the  French  service, 
and  made  two  campaigns  with  Pelissier;  and  only  quitted 
the  army  on  learning  that  my  father  had  been  lost  at  sea, 
and  had  bequeathed  me  some  small  property,  then  in  the 
hands  of  a  banker  at  Naples. 

"The  property  was  next  to  nothing;  but  by  the  papers 
and  letters  that  I  found,  I  learned  who  I  was,  and  to  what 
station  and  fortune  I  had  legitimate  claim.  It  seems  a 
small  foundation,  perhaps,  to  build  upon;  but  remember 
how  few  the  steps  are  in  reality,  and  how  direct  besides. 
My  grandmother,  Enrichetta,  was  the  married  wife  of 
Montague  Bramleigh ;  her  son  —  Godfrey  Lami  at  his  birth, 
but  afterwards  known  by  many  aliases  —  married  my 
mother,  Marie  de  Pracontal,  a  native  of  Savoy,  where 
I  was  born,  —  the  name  Pracontal  being  given  me.  My 
father's  correspondence  with  the  Bramleighs  was  kept 
up  at  intervals  during  his  life,  and  frequent  mention  is 
made  in  diaries,  as  well  as  the  banker's  books,  of  sums  of 
money  received  by  him  from  them.  In  Bolton's  hands, 
also,  was  deposited  my  father's  will,  where  he  speaks  of 
me  and  the  claim  which  I  should  inherit  on  the  Bramleigh 
estates ;  and  he  earnestly  entreats  Bolton,  who  had  so  often 
befriended  him,  to  succor  his  poor  boy,  and  not  leave  him 
without  help  and  counsel  in  the  difficulties  that  were  before 
him. 

"Have  you  followed,  or  can  you  follow,  the  tangled 
scheme  ?  "  cried  he,  after  a  pause ;  "  for  you  are  either  very 
patient,  or  completely  exhausted,  — which  is  it?" 

"  But  why  have  you  taken  the  name  of  Pracontal,  and  not 
your  real  name,   Bramleigh?"  asked  she,   eagerly. 

"By  Bolton's  advice,  in  the  first  instance;  he  wisely 
taking  into  account  how  rich  the  family  were  whose  right 
I  was  about  to  question,  and  how  poor  I  was.  Bolton 
inclined  to  a  compromise ;  and,  indeed,  he  never  ceased  to 
press  upon  me  that  it  would  be  the  fairest  and  most  gener- 
ous of  all  arrangements;  but  that  to  effect  this,  I  must  not 
shock  the  sensibilities  of  the  Bramleighs  by  assuming  their 
name,  —  that  to  do  so  was  to  declare  war  at  once." 


360  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"And  yet  had  you  called  yourself  Bramleigh,  you  would 
have  warned  others  that  the  right  of  the  Bramleighs  to  this 
estate  was  at  least  disputed." 

Pracontal  could  scarcely  repress  a  smile  at  a  declaration 
so  manifestly  prompted  by  selfish  considerations;  but  he 
made  no  reply. 

"Well,  and  this  compromise,  do  they  agree  to  it?"  asked 
she,  hastily. 

"  Some  weeks  ago,  I  believed  it  was  all  concluded ;  but 
this  very  morning  my  lawyer's  letter  tells  me  that  Augustus 
Bramleigh  will  not  hear  of  it,  that  he  is  indignant  at  the 
very  idea,  and  that  the  law  alone  must  decide  between  us." 

"What  a  scandal!" 

"So  I  thought.  Worse,  of  course,  for  them,  who  are  in 
the  world,   and  well  known.     I  am  a  nobody." 

"A  nobody  who  might  be  somebody  to-morrow,"  said 
she,  slowly  and  deliberately. 

"  After  all,  the  stage  of  pretension  is  anything  but  pleas- 
ant, and  I  cannot  but  regret  that  we  have  not  come  to  some 
arrangement. " 

"Can  Z  be  of  use?  Could  m?/ services  be  employed  to 
any  advantage  ?  " 

"At  a  moment,  I  cannot  answer;  but  I  am  very  grateful 
for  even  the  thought." 

"I  cannot  pretend  to  any  influence  with  the  family. 
Indeed,  none  of  them  ever  liked  me;  but  they  might  listen 
to  me,  and  they  might  also  believe  that  my  interest  went 
with  their  own.  Would  you  like  to  meet  Augustus 
Bramleigh  ?  " 

"There  is  nothing  I  desire  so  much." 

"I  '11  not  promise  he  '11  come;  but  if  he  should  consent, 
will  you  come  here  on  Tuesday  morning  —  say,  at  eleven 
o'clock  —  and  meet  him?  I  know  he  's  expected  at  Albanp 
by  Sunday,  and  I  '11  have  a  letter  to  propose  the  meeting, 
in  his  hands,  on  his  arrival." 

"I  have  no  words  to  speak  my  gratitude  to  you." 


CHAPTER   XLIII. 

A    SPECIAL    MISSION. 

When  a  very  polite  note  from  Lord  Culduff  to  Mr.  Cutbill 
expressed  the  deep  regret  he  felt  at  not  being  able  to  receive 
that  gentleman  at  dinner,  as  an  affair  of  much  moment 
required  his  immediate  presence  at  Naples,  the  noble  lord 
was  more  correct  than  it  was  his  usual  fate  to  be  in  matters 
of  apology.  The  fact  was,  that  his  Lordship  had  left  Eng- 
land several  weeks  before,  charged  with  a  most  knotty  and 
difficult  mission  to  the  Neapolitan  court;  and  though  the 
question  involved  the  misery  of  imprisonment  to  some  of 
the  persons  concerned,  and  had  called  forth  more  than  one 
indignant  appeal  for  information  in  the  House,  the  great 
diplomatist  sauntered  leisurely  over  the  Continent,  stopping 
to  chat  with  a  Minister  here,  or  dine  with  a  reigning  Prince 
there,  not  suffering  himself  to  be  hurried  by  the  business 
before  him,  or  in  any  way  influenced  by  the  petulant 
despatches  and  telegrams  which  F.  O.  persistently  sent 
after  him. 

•  One  of  his  theories  was,  that  in  diplomacy  everything 
should  be  done  in  a  sort  of  dignified  languor  that  excluded 
all  thought  of  haste  or  of  emergency.  "Haste  implies 
pressure,"  he  would  say,  "and  pressure  means  weakness: 
therefore,  always  seem  slow,  occasionally  even  to  indo- 
lence." 

There  was  no  denying  it,  he  was  a  great  master  in  that 
school  of  his  art  which  professed  to  baffle  every  effort  at 
inquiry.  No  man  ever  wormed  a  secret  from  him  that  he 
desired  to  retain,  or  sucofeeded  in  entrapping  him  into  any 
accidental  admission.  He  could  talk  for  hours  with  a 
frankness  that  was  positively  charming.  He  could  display 
a  candor  that  seemed  only  short  of  indiscretion;  and  yet, 


362  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISFIOP'S   FOLLY. 

when  you  left  him,  you  found  you  had  carried  away  nothing 
beyond  some  neatly  turned  aphorisms  and  a  few  very  harm- 
less imitations  of  Machiavelian  subtlety.  Like  certain 
men  who  are  fond  of  showing  how  they  can  snuff  a  candle 
with  a  bullet,  he  was  continually  exhibiting  his  skill  at 
fence,  with  the  added  assurance  that  nothing  w^ould  grieve 
him  so  ineffably  as  any  display  of  his  ability  at  your 
expense. 

He  knew  well  that  these  subtleties  were  no  longer  the 
mode;  that  men  no  longer  tried  to  outwit  each  other  in 
official  intercourse;  that  the  time  for  such  feats  of  smart- 
ness had  as  much  gone  by  as  the  age  of  high  neckcloths 
and  tight  coats ;  but  yet,  as  he  adhered  to  the  old  dandyism 
of  the  Regency  in  his  dress,  he  maintained  the  old  tradi- 
tions of  finesse  in  his  diplomacy,  and  could  no  more  have 
been  betrayed  into  a  Truth  than  he  could  have  worn  a  Jim 
Crow.  For  that  mere  plodding,  commonplace  race  of  men 
that  now  filled  "the  line"  he  had  the  most  supreme  con- 
tempt; men  who  had  never  uttered  a  smart  thing,  or  written 
a  clever  one.  Diplomacy  without  epigram  was  like  a  dinner 
without  truffles.  It  was  really  pleasant  to  hear  him  speak 
of  the  great  days  of  Metternich  and.Nesselrode  and  Talley- 
rand, when  a  frontier  was  settled  by  a  bon  mot^  and  a 
dynasty  decided  by  a  doggerel.  The  hoarse  roar  of  the 
multitude  had  not  in  those  times  disturbed  the  polished 
solemnity  of  the  council-chamber,  and  the  high  priests  of 
statecraft  celebrated  their  mysteries  unmolested. 

"The  ninth  telegram,  my  Lord,"  said  Temple,  as  he  stood- 
with  a  cipher  despatch  in  his  hand,  just  as  Lord  Culduff 
had  reached  his  hotel  at  Naples. 

"Transcribe  it,  my  dear  boy,  and  let  us  hear  it." 

"I  have,  my.  Lord.  It  runs,  'Where  is  the  special 
envoy?     Let  him  report  himself  by  telegraph.'" 

"Reply,  'At  dinner,  at  the  Hotel  Victoria;  in  passably 
good  health,   and  indifferent  spirits.'" 

"But,  my  Lord  —  " 

"  There,  you  'd  better  dress.  You  are  always  late.  And 
tell  the  people  here  to  serve  oysters  every  day  till  I  coun- 
termand them;  and  taste  the  Capri,  please;  I  prefer  it  to 
Sauterne,   if  it  be  good.     The  telegram  can  wait." 


A  SPECIAL  MISSION.  363 

"  I  was  going  to  mention,  my  Lord,  that  Prince  Castel- 
muro  has  called  twice  to-day,  and  begged  he  might  be  in- 
formed of  your  arrival.     Shall  I  write  him  a  line?" 

"  No.  The  request  must  be  replied  to  by  him  to  whom 
it  was  addressed,  —  the  landlord,  perhaps,  or  the  laquais- 
de-place, " 

"The  King  is  most  anxious  to  learn  if  you  have  come." 

"His  Majesty  shall  be  rewarded  for  his  courteous  im- 
patience.    I  shall  ask  an  audience  to-morrow." 

"They  told  me  dinner  was  served,"  said  Lady  Culduff, 
angrily,  as  she  entered  the  room,  dressed  as  if  for  a  court 
entertainment;  "and  I  hurried  down  without  putting  on  my 
gloves." 

"Let  me  kiss  your  Ladyship's  hand  so  temptingly  dis- 
played," said  he,  stooping  and  pressing  it  to  his  lips. 

An  impatient  gesture  of  the  shoulder,  and  a  saucy  curl 
of  the  lip  were  the  only  response  to  this  gallantry. 

A  full  half-hour  before  Lord  Culduff  appeared  Temple 
Bramleigh  re-entered,   dressed  for  dinner. 

"Giacomo  is  at  his  old  tricks.  Temple,"  said  she,  as  she 
walked  the  room  impatiently.  "His  theory  is  that  every 
one  is  to  be  in  waiting  on  my  Lord ;  and  I  have  been  here 
now  close  on  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  expecting  dinner  to 
be  announced.  Will  you  please  to  take  some  trouble  about 
the  household,  or  let  us  have  an  attache  who  will  ?  " 

"Giacomo  is  impossible  —  that's  the  fact;  but  it's  no 
use  saying  so." 

"I  know  that,"  said  she,  with  a  malicious  twinkle  of  the 
eye.  "  The  man  who  is  so  dexterous  with  rouge  and  poma- 
tum cannot  be  spared.  But  can  you  tell  me,  Temple,  why 
we  came  here?  There  was  no  earthly  reason  to  quit  a  place 
that  suited  us  perfectly  because  Lady  Augusta  Bramleigh 
wished  to  do  us  an  impertinence." 

"Oh,  but  we  ought  to  have  been  here  six  weeks  ago. 
They  are  frantic  at  'the  Office  '  at  our  delay,  and  there  will 
be  a  precious  to-do  about  it  in  the  House." 

"Culduff  likes  that.     If  he  has  moments  that   resemble 
happiness  they   are  those  when  he   is  so  palpably  in   the 
wrong  that  they  would  ruin  any  other  man  than  himself." 
"Well,  he  has  got  one  of  them  now,  I  can  tell  you." 


364  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"Oh,  I  am  aware  of  what  you  diplomatic  people  call 
great  emergencies,  critical  conjunctures,  and  the  like;  but 
as  Lord  AYatermore  said  the  other  evening,  'all  your  falls 
are  like  those  in  the  circus  —  you  always  come  down  upon 
sawdust.'  " 

"There's  precious  little  sawdust  here.  It's  a  case  will 
make  a  tremendous  noise  in  England.  When  a  British 
subject  has  been  ironed  and  —  " 

''  Am  I  late  ?  I  shall  be  in  despair,  my  Lady,  if  I  have 
kept  you  waiting,"  said  Lord  Culduff,  entering  in  all  the 
glory  of  red  ribbon  and  Guelph,  and  with  an  unusually 
brilliant  glow  of  youth  and  health  in  his  features. 

It  was  with  a  finished  gallantry  that  he  offered  his  arm ; 
and  his  smile,  as  he  led  her  to  the  dinner-room,  was  triumph 
itself.  What  a  contrast  to  the  moody  discontent  on  her 
face;  for  she  did  not  even  affect  to  listen  to  his  excuses,  or 
bestow  the  slightest  attention  on  his  little  flatteries  and 
compliments.  During  the  dinner  Lord  Culduff  alone  spoke. 
He  was  agreeable  after  his  manner,  which  was  certainly  a 
very  finished  manner;  and  he  gave  little  reminiscences  of 
the  last  time  he  had  been  at  Naples,  and  the  people  he  had 
met,  sketching  their  eccentricities  and  oddities  most  amus- 
in^y,  for  he  was  a  master  in  those  light  touches  of  satire 
which  deal  with  the  ways  of  society,  and,  perhaps,  to  any 
one  but  his  wife  he  would  have  been  most  entertaining  and 
pleasant.  She  never  deigned  the  very  faintest  recognition 
of  what  he  said.  She  neither  smiled  when  he  was  witty, 
nor  looked  shocked  at  his  levities.  Only  once,  when,  by  a 
direct  appeal  to  her,  silence  was  impossible,  she  said,  with 
a  marked  spitef ulness,  "  You  are  talking  of  something  very 
long  ago.  I  think  I  heard  of  that  when  I  was  a  child." 
There  was  a  glow  under  his  Lordship's  rouge  as  he  raised 
his  glass  to  his  lips,  and  an  almost  tremor  in  his  voice 
when  he  spoke  again. 

"I  'm  afraid  you  don't  like  Naples,  my  Lady?  " 

"I  detest  it." 

"The  word  is  strong;  let  it  be  my  caie  to  try  and  induce 
you  to  recall  it." 

"  It  will  be  lost  time,  my  Lord.  I  always  hated  the  place, 
and  the  people,  too." 


A   SPECIAL  MISSION.  365 

*'You  were  pleased  with  Rome,  I  think?" 
"And  that  possibly  was  the  reason  we  left  it.  I  mean," 
said  she,  blushing  with  shame  at  the  rudeness  that  had 
escaped  her,  "I  mean  that  one  is  always  torn  away  from 
the  place  they  are  content  to  live  in.  It  is  the  inevitable 
destiny." 

"Very  pleasant  claret  that  for  hotel  wine,"  said  Lord 
Culduff,  passing  the  bottle  to  Temple.  "  The  small  race  of 
travellers  who  frequent  the  Continent  now  rarely  call  for 
the  better  wines,  and  the  consequence  is  that  Margaux  and 
Marcobrunner  get  that  time  to  mature  in  the  cellars  which 
was  denied  to  them  in  former  times."    — — -- 

A  complete  silence  now  ensued.  At  last  Lord  Culduff 
said,  "  Shall  we  have  coffee  ?  "  and  offering  his  arm  with 
the  same  courteous  gallantry  as  before,  he  led  Lady  Culdufif 
into  the  drawing-room,  bowing  as  he  relinquished  her  hand, 
as  though  he  stood  in  presence  of  a  queen.  "I  know  you 
are  very  tolerant,"  said  he,  with  a  bewitching  smile,  "and 
as  we  shall  have  no  visitors  this  evening,  may  I  ask  the 
favor  of  being  permitted  a  cigarette  —  only  one?" 

"As  many  as  you  like.  I  am  going  to  my  room,  my 
Lord."  And  ere  he  could  hasten  to  open  the  door,  she 
swept  haughtily  out  of  the  room  and  disappeared. 

"We  must  try  and  make  Naples  pleasant  for  my  Lady," 
said  Lord  Culduff,  as  he  drew  his  chair  to  the  fire;  but 
there  was,  somehow,  a  malicious  twinkle  in  his  eye,  and  a 
peculiar  curl  of  the  lip,  as  he  spoke,  that  scarcely  vouched 
for  the  loyalty  of  his  words;  and  that  Temple  heard  him 
with  distrust  seemed  evident  by  his  silence.  "You'd 
better  go  over  to  the  Legation  and  say  we  have  arrived. 
If  Blagden  asks  when  he  may  call,  tell  him  at  two  to- 
morrow. Let  them  send  over  all  the  correspondence ;  and 
I  think  we  shall  want  some  one  out  of  the  chancellerie. 
Whom  have  they  got?     Throw  your  eye  over  the  list." 

Opening  a  small  volume  bound  in  red  morocco,  Temple 
read  out,  "Minister  and  envoy.  Sir  Geoffrey  Blagden, 
K.C.B. ;  first  secretary,  Mr.  Tottenham;  second  secretaries, 
Ralph  Howard,  the  Hon.  Edward  Eccles,  and  W.  Thorn- 
ton; third  secretary,  George  Hilliard;  attache,  Christopher 
Stepney." 


366  THE   BRAMLEIGHS.  OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

*'I  only  know  one  of  these  men;  indeed,  I  can  scarcely 
say  I  know  him.  I  knew  his  father,  or  his  grandfather, 
perhaps.  At  all  events,  take  some  one  who  writes  a  full 
hand,  with  the  letters  very  upright,  and  who  seldom  speaks, 
and  never  has  a  cold  in  his  head." 

"You  don't  care  for  any  one  in  particular?"  asked 
Temple,   meekly. 

''Of  course  not;  no  more  than  for  the  color  of  the  horse 
in  a  hansom.  If  Blagden  hints  anything  about  dining  with 
him,  say  I  don't  dine  out;  though  I  serve  her  Majesty,  I 
do  not  mean  to  destroy  my  constitution,  and  I  know  what 
a  Legation  dinner  means,  with  a  Scotchman  for  the  chief 
of  the  mission.  I  'm  so  thankful  he  's  not  married,  or  we 
should  have  his  wife  calling  on  my  Lady.  You  can  dine 
there  if  you  like;  indeed,  perhaps,  you  ought.  If  Blagden 
has  an  opera-box,  say  my  Lady  likes  the  theatre.  I  think 
that 's  all.  Stay,  don't  let  him  pump  you  about  m}^  going 
to  Vienna;  and  drop  in  on  me  when  ^^ou  come  back." 

Lord  Culduff  was  fast  asleep  in  a  deep  arm-chair  before 
his  dressing-room  fire  when  Temple  returned.  The  young 
man  looked  wearied  and  worn  out,  as  well  he  might;  for 
the  Minister  had  insisted  on  going  over  the  whole  "ques- 
tion "  to  him,  far  less,  indeed,  for  his  information  or  in- 
struction, than  to  justify  every  step  the  Legation  had  taken, 
and  to  show  the  utter  unfairness  and  ungenerosity  of  the 
Foreign  Office  in  sending  out  a  special  mission  to  treat  a 
matter  which  the  accredited  envoy  was  already  bringing  to 
a  satisfactory  conclusion. 

"No,  no,  my  dear  boy,  no  blue-books,  no  correspond- 
ence. I  shook  my  religious  principles  in  early  life  by 
reading  Gibbon,  and  I  never  was  quite  sure  of  my  grammar 
since  I  studied  diplomatic  despatches.  Just  tell  me  the 
matter  as  you  'd  tell  a  scandal  or  a  railway  accident." 

"Where  shall  I  begin,  then?  " 

"Begin  where  ive  come  in." 

"Ah,  but  I  can't  tell  where  that  is.  You  know,  of 
course,  that  there  was  a  filibustering  expedition  which 
landed  on  the  coast,  and  encountered  the  revenue  guard, 
and  overpowered  them,  and  were  in  turn  attacked,  routed, 
and  captured  by  the  Royal  troops." 


A  SPECIAL  MISSION.  367 

"Ta,  ta,  ta!  I  clou't  want  all  that.  Come  down  to  the 
events  of  June  —  June  27  they  call  it." 

"  Well,  it  was  on  that  day  when  the  '  Ercole  '  was  about 
to  get  under  weigh,  with  two  hundred  of  these  fellows  sen- 
tenced to  the  galleys  for  life,  that  a  tremendous  storm  broke 
over  the  Bay  of  Naples.  Since  the  memorable  hurricane 
of  '92  there  had  been  nothing  like  it.  The  sea-wall  of  the 
Chiaja  was  washed  away,  and  a  frigate  was  cast  on  shore 
at  Caserta  with  her  bowsprit  in  the  palace  windows ;  all  the 
lower  town  was  under  water,  and  many  lives  lost.  But  the 
damage  at  sea  was  greatest  of  all:  eight  fine  ships  were 
lost,  the  crews  having,  with  some  few  exceptions,  perished 
with  them." 

*'Can't  we  imagine  a  great  disaster  —  a  very  great  dis- 
aster?    I'll  paint  my  own  storm,   so  pray  go  on." 

*' Amongst  the  merchant  shipping  was  a  large  American 
bark  which  rode  out  the  gale,  at  anchor,  for  several  hours; 
but,  as  the  storm  increased,  her  captain,  who  was  on  shore, 
made  signal  to  the  mate  to  slip  his  cable  and  run  for  safety 
to  Castellamare.  The  mate,  a  young  Englishman,  named 
Rogers  —  " 

"Samuel  Rogers?" 

"  The  same,  my  Lord,  though  it  is  said  not  to  be  his  real 
name.  He,  either  misunderstanding  the  signal,  —  or,  as 
some  say,  wilfully  mistaking  its  meaning,  —  took  to  his 
launch,  with  the  eight  men  he  had  with  him,  and  rowed 
over  to  a  small  despatch-boat  of  the  Royal  Navy,  which 
was  to  have  acted  as  convoy  to  the  '  Ercole, '  but  whose 
oflScers  were  unable  to  get  on  board  of  her,  so  that  she  was 
actually  under  the  command  of  a  petty  officer.  Rogers 
boarded  her,  and  proposed  to  the  man  in  command  to  get 
up  the  steam  and  try  to  save  the  lives  of  the  people  who 
were  perishing  on  every  hand.  He  refused;  an  altercation 
ensued,  and  the  English  —  for  they  were  all  English  — 
overpowered  them  and  sent  them  below  — " 

"Don't  say  under  hatches,  my  dear  boy,  or  I  shall  expect 
to  see  you  hitching  your  trousers  next." 

Temple  reddened,  but  went  on:  "They  got  up  steam  in 
all  haste,  and  raised  their  anchor,  but  only  at  the  instant 
that  the  '  Ercole  '  foundered,  quite  close  to  them,  and  the 


368  THE   BRAMLEIGHS  OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

whole  sea  was  covered  with   the  soldiers  and    the   galley- 
slaves,  who  had  jumped  overboard,  and  the  ship  went  down. 
Rogers  made  for  them  at  once,  and  rescued  above  a  hun- 
(ji-ed,  —  chiefly  of  the  prisoners ;  but   he  saved  also   many 
of  the  crew,  and  the  soldiers.     From  four  o'clock  till  nigh 
seven,  he  continued  to  cruise  back  and  forward  through  the 
bay,  assisting  every  one  who  needed  help,  and  saving  life 
on  every  side.     As  the  gale  abated,  yielding  to  the  piteous 
entreaties  of  the  prisoners,  whom  he  well  knew  were  politi- 
cal offenders,  he  landed  them  all  near  Baia,  and  was  quietly 
returning  to  the  mooring-ground  whence  he  had  taken  the 
despatch-boat,  when  he  was  boarded  by  two  armed  boats' 
crews  of  the  Royal  Navy,  ironed  and  carried  off  to  prison." 
"That  will  do;  I  know  the  rest.     Blagden  asked  to  have 
them  tried  in  open  court,  and  was  told  that  the  trial  was 
over,  and  that  they  had  been  condemned  to  death,  but  the 
sentence  was  commuted  by  royal  mercy  to  hard  labor  at  the 
galleys.     I  knew  your  long  story  before   you  told  it,  but 
listened  to  hear  what  new  element  you  might  have  inter- 
polated since  you  saw  the  people  at  the  Legation.     I  find 
you,  on  the  whole,  very  correct.     How  the  Neapolitan  Gov- 
ernment and  H.  M.'s  Ministers  have  mistaken,  mystified, 
and  slanged  each  other ;  how  they  have  misinterpreted  law 
and  confounded  national  right;  how   they  have  danced   a 
reel  through  all  justice,  and  changed  places  with  each  other 
some  half-dozen  times,  so  that  an  arbiter  —  if  there  were 
one  —  would   put  them   both  out  of   court  —  I  have  read 
already  in  the  private  correspondence.     Even  the  people  in 
Parliament,  patent  bunglers  as  they  are  in  foreign  customs, 
began  to  ask  themselves.  Is  Filangieri  in  the  pay  of  her 
Majesty?  and  how  comes  it  that  Blagden  is  in  the  service 
of  Naples?" 

"Oh,  it 's  not  so  bad  as  that!  " 

"Yes,  it's  fully  as  bad  as  that.  Such  a  muddled  corre- 
spondence was  probably  never  committed  to  print.  They 
thought  it  a  controversy,  but  the  combatants  never  con- 
fronted each  other.  One  appealed  to  humanity,  the  other 
referred  to  the  law ;  one  went  off  in  heroics  about  gallantry, 
and  the  other  answered  by  the  galleys.  People  ought  to  be 
taught  that  diplomatists  do  not  argue,  or  if  they  do,  they 


A  SPECIAL  MISSION.  369 

are  mere  tyros  at  their  trade.  Diplomatists  insinuate,  sup- 
pose, suggest,  hope,  fear,  and  occasionally  threaten;  and 
with  these  they  take  in  a  tolerably  wide  sweep  of  human 
motives.  There,  go  to  bed  now,  my  dear  boy;  you  have 
had  enough  of  precepts  for  one  evening;  tell  Giacomo  not 
to  disturb  me  before  noon  —  I  shall  probably  write  late  into 
the  night." 

Temple  bowed  and  took  his  leave;  but  scarcely  had  he 
reached  the  stairs  than  Lord  Culduff  laid  himself  in  his  bed 
and  went  off  into  a  sound  sleep.  Whether  his  rest  was  dis- 
turbed by  dreams ;  whether  his  mind  went  over  the  crushing 
things  he  had  in  store  for  the  Neapolitan  Minister,  or  the 
artful  excuses  he  intended  to  write  home ;  whether  he  com- 
posed sonorous  sentences  for  a  blue-book,  or  invented  witty 
epigrams  for  a  "  private  and  confidential ;  "  or  whether  he 
only  dreamed  of  a  new  preparation  of  glycerine  and  otto 
of  roses,  which  he  had  seen  advertised  as  an  "invaluable 
accessory  to  the  toilet,"  this  history  does  not,  perhaps  need 
not,  record. 

As,  however,  we  are  not  about  to  follow  the  course  of  his 
diplomatic  efforts  in  our  next  chapter,  it  is  pleasant  to  take 
leave  of  him  in  his  repose. 


24 


CHAPTER   XLIV. 

THE     CHURCH     PATRONS. 

As  the  season  drew  to  its  close  at  Albano,  and  the  period 
of  returning  to  Rome  approached,  the  church  committee, 
following  the  precedent  of  all  previous  years,  fell  out,  and 
held  a  succession  of  vestry-meetings  for  mutual  abuse  and 
recrimination.  Partisanship  is  the  badge  of  church  patrons; 
and  while  the  parson  had  his  adherents,  and  the  organist  his 
supporters,  there  were  half  a  dozen  very  warm  friends  who 
advocated  the  cause  of  the  bell-ringer,  —  a  drunken  little 
heathen,  who,  because  he  had  never  crossed  the  threshold 
of  a  Catholic  church  for  years,  was  given  brevet  rank  as  a 
member  of  the  Reformed  religion. 

The  time  of  auditing  the  church  accounts  is  usually  a 
sort  of  day  of  judgment  on  the  clerg^^man.  All  the  com- 
plaints that  can  be  preferred  against  him  are  kept  for  that 
occasion.  A  laudable  sentiment  possibly  prompts  men  to 
ascertain  what  they  have  got  for  their  money ;  at  all  events, 
people  in  no  wise  remarkable  for  personal  thrift  show  at 
such  times  a  most  searching  spirit  of  inquiry,  and  eagerly 
investigate  the  cost  of  sweeping  out  the  vestry  and  clear- 
starching the  chaplain's   bands. 

As  to  the  doctrine  of  the  parson,  and  the  value  of  his 
ministration,  there  were  a  variety  of  opinions.  He  was  too 
high  for  this  one,  too  dry  for  that;  he  was  not  impressive, 
not  solemn  nor  dignified  with  some,  while  others  deemed 
him  deficient  in  that  winning  familiarity  which  is  so  sooth- 
ing to  certain  sinners.  Some  thought  his  sermons  too 
high-flown  and  too  learned,  others  asked  why  he  only 
preached  to  the  children  in  the  gallery.  On  one  only  point 
was  there  anything    like  unanimity:    each  man  who  with- 


THE   CHURCH  PATRONS.  371 

drew  his  subscription  did  so  on  principle.  None  —  not 
one  —  referred  bis  determination  to  contribute  no  longer  to 
any  motive  of  economy.  All  declared  that  it  was  some- 
thing in  the  celebration  of  the  service  —  a  doctrine  incul- 
cated in  the  pulpit  —  something  the  parson  had  said,  or 
something  he  had  worn  —  obliged  them,  "with  infinite 
regret,"  to  withdraw  what  they  invariably  called  "their 
mite."  In  fact,  one  thing  was  clear:  a  more  high-minded, 
right-judging,  scrupulous  body  of  people  could  not  be 
found  than  the  congregation,  whatever  might  be  said  or 
thought  of  him  whose  duty  it  was  to  guide  them. 

Lady  Augusta  Bramleigh  had  gone  off  to  Rome,  and  a 
small  three-cornered  note,  highly  perfumed,  and  most  ner- 
vously written,  informed  the  committee  that  she  was  quite 
ready  to  continue  her  former  subscription,  or  more,  if 
required ;  that  she  was  charmed  with  the  chaplain,  pleased 
with  the  choir,  and  generally  delighted  with  every  one,  — 
a  testimony  more  delicately  valuable  from  the  fact  that 
she  had  been  but  once  to  the  church  during  the  entire 
season. 

Sir  Marcus  Cluff,  after  reading  out  the  letter,  took  occa- 
sion to  observe  on  the  ventilation  of  the  church,  which  was 
defective  in  many  respects.  There  was  a  man  in  King 
Street  —  he  thought  his  name  was  Harmond,  or  something 
like  Harmond,  but  it  might  be  Fox  —  who  had  invented  a 
self-revolving  pane  for  church  windows.  It  was  perfectly 
noiseless,  and  the  cost  a  mere  trifle,  though  it  required  to 
be  adjusted  by  one  of  the  patentee's  own  people;  some  mis- 
takes having  occurred  by  blundering  adaptation,  by  which 
two  persons  had  been  asphyxiated  at  Redhill. 

The  orator  was  here  interrupted  by  Mrs.  Trumpler,  who 
stoutly  affirmed  that  she  had  come  there  that  day  at  great 
inconvenience,  and  was  in  no  wise  prepared  to  listen  to  a 
discourse  upon  draughts,  or  the  rival  merits  of  certain 
plumbers.  There  were  higher  considerations  than  these 
that  might  occupy  them,  and  she  wished  to  know  if  Mr. 
L' Estrange  was  prepared  to  maintain  the  harsh,  and  she 
must  say  the  ungenerous  and  unscholarlike,  view  he  had 
taken  of  the  character  of  Judas.  If  so,  she  withdrew  her 
subscription,  but  added  that  she  would  also  in  a  pamphlet 


372  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

explain  to  the  world  the  reasons  of  her  retirement,  as  well 
as  the  other  grounds  of  complaint  she  had  against  the 
chaplain. 

One  humble  contributor  of  fifteen  francs  alleged  that, 
though  nutcrackers  were  a  useful  domestic  implement,  they 
formed  an  unpleasant  accompaniment  to  the  hymns,  and 
occasionally  startled  devotionally  minded  persons  during 
the  service ;  and  he  added  his  profound  regret  at  the  seem- 
ing apathy  of  the  clergyman  to  the  indecent  interruption ; 
indeed,  he  had  seen  the  parson  sitting  in  the  reading-desk, 
while  these  disturbances  continued,  to  all  appearance 
unmoved  and  indifferent. 

A  retired  victualler,  Mr.  Mowser,  protested  that  to  see 
the  walk  of  the  clergyman,  as  he  came  up  the  aisle,  "was 
enough  for  him;  "  and  he  had  only  come  to  the  meeting  to 
declare  that  he  himself  had  gone  over  to  the  sect  of  the 
Nuremberg  Christians,  who,  at  least,  were  humble-minded 
and  lowly,  and  who  thought  their  pastor  handsomely  pro- 
vided for  with  a  thousand  francs  a  year,  and  a  suit  of  black 
clothes  at  Christmas. 

In  a  word,  there  was  much  discontent  abroad,  and  a  very 
general  opinion  seemed  to  prevail  that,  what  with  the  in- 
creasing dearness  of  butchers'  meat,  and  an  extra  penny 
lately  added  to  the  income-tax,  it  behoved  every  one  to  see 
what  wise  and  safe  economy  could  be  introduced  into  their 
affairs.  It  is  needless  to  say  how  naturally  it  suggested 
itself  to  each  that  the  church  subscription  was  a  retrench- 
ment at  once  practicable  and  endurable. 

Any  one  who  wishes  to  convince  himself  how  dear  to  the 
Protestant  heart  is  the  right  of  private  judgment,  has  only 
to  attend  a  vestry-meeting  of  a  church  supported  on  the 
voluntary  system.  It  is  the  very  grandest  assertion  of  that 
great  principle.  There  is  not  a  man  there  represented  by 
ten  francs  annual  subscription  who  has  not  very  decided 
opinions  of  the  doctrine  he  requires  for  his  money;  and 
thus,  while  no  one  agreed  with  his  neighbor,  all  concurred 
in  voting  that  they  deemed  the  chaplain  had  not  fulfilled 
their  expectations,  and  that  they  reserved  their  right  to  con- 
tribute or  not  for  the  ensuing  year,  as  future  thought  and 
consideration  should  determine. 


THE   CHURCH  PATRONS.  373 

L'Estrange  had  gone  into  Rome  to  meet  Augustus  Bram- 
leigh  and  Ellen,  who  were  coming  to  pass  the  Christmas 
with  him,  when  Sir  Marcus  Cluff  called  to  announce  this 
unpleasant  resolution  of  the  Church  patrons. 

"Perhaps  I  could  see  Miss  L'Estrange?  "  said  he  to  the 
servant,   who  had  said  her  master  was  from  home. 

Julia  was  seated  working  at  the  window  as  Sir  Marcus 
entered  the  room. 

"I  hope  I  do  not  come  at  an  unseemly  hour;  I  scarcely 
know  the  time  one  ought  to  visit  here,"  he  began,  as  he 
fumbled  to  untie  the  strings  of  his  respirator.  "  How  nice 
and  warm  your  room  is;  and  a  south  aspect,  too.  Ah! 
that's  what  my  house  fails  in." 

"  I  'm  so  sorry  my  brother  is  not  at  home,  Sir  Marcus. 
He  will  regret  not  meeting  you." 

"And  I  'm  sorry,  too.  I  could  have  broken  the  bad  news 
to  him,  perhaps,  better  than  —  I  mean  —  oh,  dear!  if  I 
begin  coughing,  I  shall  never  cease.  Would  you  mind  my 
taking  my  drops  ?  They  are  only  aconite  and  lettuce ;  and 
if  I  might  ask  for  a  little  fresh  water.  I  'm  so  sorry  to  be 
troublesome." 

Though  all  anxiety  to  know  to  what  bad  news  he  referred, 
she  hastened  to  order  the  glass  of  water  he  desired,  and 
calmly  resumed  her  seat. 

"It 's  spasmodic,  —  this  cough.  I  don't  know  if  that  be 
any  advantage,  or  the  reverse;  but  the  doctor  says  'only 
spasmodic, '  which  would  lead  ^one  to  suppose  it  might  be 
worse.  Would  you  do  me  the  great  favor  to  drop  thirty- 
five —  be  sure  only  thirty-five  —  of  these?  I  hope  your 
hand  does  not  shake?" 

"No,  Sir  Marcus.     It  is  very  steady."  , 

"  What  a  pretty  hand  it  is !  How  taper  your  fingers  are ;  | 
but  you  have  these  dimples  at  the  knuckles  they  say  are , 
such  signs  of  cruelty." 

"Oh,  Sir  Marcus!" 

"Yes,  they  say  so.  Nana  Sahib  had  them,  and  that 
woman  —  there,  there,  you  have  given  me  thirty-seven." 

"  No,  I  assure  you.  Sir  Marcus,  only  thirty-five.  I  'm  a 
practised  hand  at  dropping  medicine.  My  brother  used  to 
have  violent  headaches." 


374  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

"And  you  always  measured  bis  drops,  did  you?  " 

"Always.     I  *m  quite  a  clever  nurse,  I  assure  you." 

"Oh,  dear!  do  you  say  so?"  And  as  be  laid  down  bis 
glass  be  looked  at  ber  with  an  expression  of  interest  and 
admiration,  wbicb  pusbed  ber  gravity  to  its  last  limit. 

"I  don't  believe  a  word  about  tbe  cruelty  tbey  ascribe  to 
tbose  dimples.  I  pledge  you  my  word  of  bonor  I  do  not," 
said  be,  seriously. 

"I  'm  sincerely  glad  to  bear  you  say  so,"  said  sbe,  trying 
to  seem  grave. 

"And  is  your  brotber  mucb  of  an  invalid?" 

"Not  now.  Tbe  damp  climate  of  Ireland  gave  bim  bead- 
acbes;  but  be  rarely  bas  tbem  bere." 

"  Ab,  and  you  bave  sucb  a  quiet  way  of  moving  about; 
tbat  gentle  gliding  step,  so  sootbing  to  tbe  sick.  Ob,  you 
don't  know  wbat  a  boon  it  is;  and  tbe  common  people 
never  bave  it,  nor  can  tbey  acquire  it.  Wben  you  went  to 
ring  tbe  bell,  I  said  to  myself,  'Tbat 's  it,  — tbat 's  wbat  all 
tbe  teaching  in  tbe  world  cannot  impart. '  " 

"You  will  make  me  very  vain.  Sir  Marcus.  All  tbe 
more  tbat  you  give  me  credit  for  merits  I  never  suspected." 

"Have  you  a  cold  band?"  asked  be,  witb  a  look  of 
eagerness. 

"I  really  don't  know.     Perhaps  I  bave." 

"If  I  might  dare.  Ah,"  said  he,  with  mucb  feeling,  as 
be  touched  her  band  in  the  most  gentle  manner  —  "ab! 
tbat  is  the  greatest  gift  of '  nature  A  small  hand,  perfect 
in  form,   beautiful  in  color,   and  cold  as  marble." 

Julia  could  resist  no  longer,  but  laughed  out  one  of  tbose 
pleasant  merry  laughs  whose  music  make  an  echo  in  the 
heart. 

"I  know  well' enough  wbat  you  are  saying  to  yourself. 
I  think  I  bear  you  muttering,  'What  an  original,  what  a 
strange  creature  it  is; '  and  so  I  am,  I  won't  deny  it.  One 
who  bas  been  an  invalid  for  eighteen  years;  eighteen  years 
passed  in  the  bard  struggle  with  an  indolent  alimentary 
system,  for  they  say  it  's  no  more.  There  's  nothing 
organic;  nothing  whatever.  Structurally,  said  Dr.  Boreas 
of  Leamington,  structurally  you  are  as  sound  as  a  roach. 
I  don't  fully  appreciate  tbe  comparison;  but  I  take  it  tbe 


THE   CHURCH  PATRONS.  375 

roach  must  be  a  very  healthy  fish.  Oh,  here  's  your  brother 
coming  across  the  garden.  I  wish  he  had  not  come  just 
yet;  I  had  a  —  no  matter,  perhaps  you  'd  permit  me  to  have 
a  few  words  with  you  to-morrow?  " 

"To-morrow,  or  whenever  you  like,  Sir  Marcus;  but  pray 
forgive  me  if  I  run  away  now  to  ask  my  brother  if  our 
visitors  have  come." 

"They'll  be  here  to-morrow  evening,  Ju,"  said  George, 
as  she  rushed  to  meet  him.  "Is  that  Cluff's  phaeton  I  see 
at  the  gate  ?  " 

"Yes;  the  tiresome  creature  has  been  here  the  last  hour. 
"I  '11  not  go  back  to  him.     You  must  take  your  share  now.'* 

By  the  time  L'Estrange  entered  the  room,  Sir  Marcus  had 
replaced  his  respirator,  and  enveloped  himself  in  two  of  his 
overcoats  and  a  fur  boa.  "Oh,  here  you  are,"  said  he, 
speaking  with  much  difficulty.  "I  can't  talk  now;  it 
brings  on  the  cough.  Come  over  in  the  evening,  and  I  '11 
tell  you  about  it." 

"About  what,  pray?  '*  asked  the  other,  curtly. 

"There  's  no  use  being  angry.  It  only  hurries  the 
respiration,  and  chokes  the  pulmonary  vessels.  They 
won't  give  a  sixpence  —  not  one  of  them.  They  say  that 
you  don't  preach  St.  Paul  —  that  you  think  too  much  about 
works.  I  don't  know  what  they  don't  say;  but  come  over 
about  seven." 

"  Do  you  mean  that  the  subscribers  have  withdrawn  from 
the  church?" 

Sir  Marcus  had  not  breath  for  further  discussion,  but 
made  a  gesture  of  assent  with  his  head. 

L'Estrange  sank  down  on  a  chair  overpowered,  nor  did 
he  speak  to,  or  notice,  the  other  as  he  withdrew. 

"Are  you  ill,  dearest  George?"  said  Julia,  as  she  saw 
her  brother  pale  and  motionless  on  the  chair.  "Are  you 
ill?" 

"They've  all  withdrawn  from  the  church,  Julia.  Cluff 
says  they  are  dissatisfied  with  me,  and  will  contribute  no 
longer." 

"I  don't  believe  it 's  so  bad  as  he  says.  I  'm  sure  it  *s 
not.  They  cannot  be  displeased  with  you,  George.  It  *s 
some  mere  passing  misconception.     You  know  how  they  're 


376  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

o-iven  to  these  little  bickerings   and  squabbles;   but  they 
have  ever  been  kind  and  friendly  to  you." 

"You  always  give  me  courage,  Ju;  and  even  when  I  have 
little  heart  for  it,  I  like  it." 

"  Come  in  to  dinner  now,  George;  and  if  I  don't  make 
you  laugh,  it 's  a  wonder  to  me.  I  have  had  such  a  scene 
with  Sir  Marcus  as  might  have  graced  a  comedy." 

It  was  not  an  easy  task  to  rally  her  brother  back  to  good 
spirits,  but  she  did  succeed  at  last.  "And  now,"  said  she, 
as  she  saw  him  looking  once  more  at  ease  and  cheerful, 
''what  news  of  the  Bramleighs  —  are  they  ever  to  come?  " 

"  They  '11  be  here  to-morrow  evening,  Ju.  Unless  they 
were  quite  sure  the  Culduffs  had  left  for  Naples,  they  would 
not  venture  here;  and  perhaps  they  were  so  far  in  the 
right." 

"I  don't  think  so;  at  least,  if  I  had  been  Nelly,  I  'd  have 
given  anything  for  such  an  opportunity  of  presenting 
myself  to  my  distinguished  relations,  and  terrifying  them 
by  the  thought  of  those  attentions  that  they  can  neither 
give  me  nor  deny  me." 

"No,  no,  Julia,  nothing  of  the  kind;  there  would  be 
malice  in  that." 

.  "  Do  I  deny  it?  A  great  deal  of  malice  in  it,  and  there  's 
no  good  comedy  in  life  without  a  slight  flavor  of  spiteful- 
ness.  Oh,  my  poor  dear  George,  what  a  deep  sigh  that  was! 
How  sad  it  is  to  think  that  all  your  example  and  all  your 
precept  do  so  little,  and  that  your  sister  acquires  nothing 
by  your  companionship  except  the  skill  to  torment  you." 

"But  why  will  you  say  those  things  that  you  don't  mean 
—  that  you  couldn't  feel?" 

"  I  believe  I  do  it,  George,  just  the  way  a  horse  bounds 
and  rears  and  buck-leaps.  It  does  not  help  him  on  his 
road,  but  it  lightens  the  journey;  and  then  it  offers  such 
happy  occasion  for  the  exercise  of  that  nice  light  hand  of 
my  brother  to  check  these  aberrations.  You  ought  to  be 
eternally  grateful  for  the  way  I  develop  your  talents  as  a 
moralist  —  I  was  going  to  say  a  horse-breaker." 

"I  suppose,"  said  he,  after  a  moment's  silence,  "I  ought 
to  go  over  to  Sir  Marcus  and  learn  from  him  exactly  how 
matters  stand  here." 


THE   CHURCH  PATRONS.  377 

"No,  no;  never  mind  him  —  at  least,  not  this  evening. 
Bores  are  bad  enough  in  the  morning,  but  after  dinner, 
when  one  really  wants  to  think  well  of  their  species,  they 
are  just  intolerable ;  besides,  I  composed  a  little  song  while 
you  were  away,  and  I  want  you  to  hear  it,  and  then  you 
know  we  must  have  some  serious  conversation  about  Sir 
Marcus;  he  is  to  be  here  to-morrow." 

"I  declare,  Ju  — " 

"There,  don't  declare,  but  open  the  pianoforte,  and  light 
the  candles;  and  as  I  mean  to  sing  for  an  hour  at  least, 
you  may  have  that  cigar  that  you  looked  so  lovingly  at, 
and  put  back  into  the  case.  Ain't  I  good  for  you,  as  the 
French  say  ?  " 

"Very  good,  too  good  for  me,"  said  he,  kissing  her,  and 
now  every  trace  of  his  sorrow  was  gone,  and  he  looked  as 
happy  as  might  be. 


CHAPTER  XLV. 


A     PLEASANT     DINNER. 


Prudent  people  will  knit  their  brows  and  wise  people  shake 
their  heads  at  the  bare  mention  of  it,  but  I  cannot  help  say- 
ing that  there  is  a  wonderful  fascination  in  those  little  gather- 
ings which  bring  a  few  old  friends  around  the  same  board, 
who,  forgetting  all  the  little  pinchings  and  straits  of  narrow 
fortune,  give  themselves  up  for  once  to  enjoyment  without 
a  thought  for  the  cost  or  a  care  for  the  morrow.  I  do  not 
want  this  to  pass  for  sound  morality,  nor  for  a  discreet  line 
of  conduct;  I  only  say  that  in  the  spirit  that  can  subdue 
every  sentiment  that  would  jar  on  the  happiness  of  the  hour 
there  is  a  strength  and  vitality  that  shows  this  feeling  is  not 
born  of  mere  conviviality,  but  of  something  deeper,  and  truer, 
and  heartier. 

"If  we  only  had  poor  Jack  here,"  whispered  Augustus 
Bramleigh  to  L'Estrange,  as  they  drew  around  the  Christmas 
fire,  "  I  'd  say  this  was  the  happiest  hearth  I  know  of." 

"And  have  you  no  tidings  of  hifn?"  said  L'Estrange,  in 
the  same  low  tone;  for,  although  the  girls  were  in  eager 
talk  together,  he  was  afraid  Julia  might  overhear  what  was 
said. 

"  None,  except  that  he  sailed  from  China  on  board  an 
American  clipper  for  Smyrna,  and  I  am  now  waiting  for 
news  from  the  consul  there,  to  whom  I  have  written,  enclos- 
ing a  letter  for  him." 

' '  And  he  is  serving  as  a  sailor  ?  " 

Bramleigh  nodded. 

"  What  is  the  mysterious  conversation  going  on  there?  " 
said  Julia.  "  How  grave  George  looks,  and  Mr.  Bramleigh 
seems  overwhelmed  with  a  secret  of  importance." 


A   PLEASANT  DINNER.  379 

"I  guess  it,"  said  Nelly,  laughing.  "Your  brother  is 
relating  your  interview  with  Sir  Marcus  Cluff,  and  they  are 
speculating  on  what  is  to  come  of  it." 

"  Oh,  that  reminds  me,"  cried  L'Estrange,  suddenly, 
"  Sir  Marcus's  servant  brought  me  a  letter  just  as  I  was 
dressing  for  dinner.  Here  it  is.  What  a  splendid  seal  — 
supporters  too  !     Have  I  permission  to  read?  " 

"  Read,  read  by  all  means,"  cried  Julia. 

"  '  Dear  Sir,  —  If  I  could  have  sufficiently  conquered  my 
bronchitis  as  to  have  ventured  out  this  morning,  I  would 
have  made  you  my  personal  apologies  for  not  having  received 
you  last  night  when  you  did  me  the  honor  to  call,  as  well  as 
opened  to  you  by  word  of  mouth  what  I  am  now  reduced  to 
convey  by  pen.'  " 

"He  is  just  as  prolix  as  when  he  talks,"  said  Julia. 

"  It's  a  large  hand,  however,  and  easy  to  read.  '  My  old 
enemy  the  larynx  —  more  in  fault  than  even  the  bronchial 
tubes  —  is  again  in  arms  —  '  " 

"  Oh,  do  spare  us  his  anatomical  disquisition,  George. 
Skip  him  down  to  where  he  proposes  for  me." 

"  But  it  is  what  he  does  not.  You  are  not  mentioned  in 
the  whole  of  it.  It  is  all  about  church  matters.  It  is  an 
explanation  of  why  every  one  has  withdrawn  his  subscription 
and  left  the  establishment,  and  why  he  alone  is  faithful  and 
willing  to  contribute,  even  to  the  extent  of  five  pounds 
additional  —  " 

' '  This  is  too  heartless  by  half ;  the  man  has  treated  me 
shamefully." 

"  I  protest  I  think  so  too,"  said  Nelly,  with  a  mock 
seriousness;  "he  relies  upon  your  brother's  gown  for  his 
protection." 

"  Shall  I  have  him  out?  But,  by  the  way,  why  do  you 
call  me  Mr.  Bramleigh  ?  Was  n't  I  Augustus  —  or  rather 
Gusty  —  when  we  met  last?  " 

"  I  don't  think  so;  so  well  as  I  remember,  I  treated  you 
with  great  respect  dashed  with  a  little  bit  of  awe.  You  and 
your  elder  sister  were  always  '  personages '  to  me." 

"  I  cannot  understand  that.  I  can  easily  imagine  Temple 
inspiring  that  deference  you  speak  of." 

"  You  were  the  true  prince,  however,  and  I  had  all 
Falstaff*s  reverence  for  the  true  prince." 


380  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

*' And  yet  you  see  after  all  I  am  like  to  turn  out  only  a 
pretender." 

"  By  the  way,  the  pretender  is  here  ;  I  mean  —  if  it  be  not 
a  bull  to  say  it —  the  real  pretender,  Count  Pracontal." 

*'  Count  Pracontal  de  Bramleigh,  George,"  said  Julia, 
correcting  him.  "It  is  the  drollest  mode  of  assuming  a 
family  name  I  ever  heard  of." 

"  What  is  he  like?  "  asked  Ellen. 

' '  Like  a  very  well-bred  Frenchman  of  the  worst  school  of 
French  manners :  he  has  none  of  that  graceful  ease  and  that 
placid  courtesy  of  the  past  period,  but  he  has  abundance  of 
the  volatile  readiness  and  showy  smartness  of  the  present 
day.  They  are  a  wonderful  race,  however,  and  their 
smattering  is  better  than  other  men's  learning." 

"  I  want  to  see  him,"  said  Augustus. 

''  Well,"  broke  in  L'Estrange,  "  Lady  Augusta  writes  to 
me  to  say  he  wants  to  see  you.'' 

*'  What  does  Lady  Augusta  know  of  him?" 

"Heaven  knows,"  cried  Julia;  "but  they  are  always 
together ;  their  rides  over  the  Campagna  furnish  just  now 
the  chief  scandal  of  Rome.  George,  you  may  see,  looks 
very  serious  and  rebukef ul  about  it ;  but,  if  the  truth  were 
told,  there's  a  little  jealousy  at  the  root  of  his  morality." 

"  I  declare,  Julia,  this  is  too  bad." 

"  Too  true,  also,  my  dear  George.  Will  you  deny  that 
you  used  to  ride  out  with  her  nearly  every  evening  in  the 
summer,  rides  that  began  at  sunset  and  ended  —  I  was 
always  asleep  when  you  came  home,  and  so  I  never  knew 
when  they  ended." 

"  Was  she  very  agreeable?"  asked  Nelly,  with  the  faint- 
est tinge  of  sharpness  in  her  manner. 

"  The  most  —  what  shall  I  call  it?  —  inconsequent  woman 
I  ever  met,  mixing  up  things  the  most  dissimilar  together, 
and  never  dwelling  for  an  instant  on  anything." 

"  How  base  men  are,"  said  Julia,  with  mock  reproach  in 
her  voice.  "  This  is  the  way  he  talks  of  a  woman  he  ab- 
solutely persecuted  with  attentions  the  whole  season.  Would 
you  believe  it,  Nelly,  we  cut  up  our  nice  little  garden  to 
make  a  school  to  train  her  horse  in  ?  " 

Whether  it  was  that  some  secret  intelligence  was  rapidly 
conveyed  from  Julia  as  she  spoke  to  Nelly,  or  that  the  latter 


A   PLEASANT  DINNER.  381 

of  herself  caught  up  the  quizzing  spirit  of  her  attack,  but 
the  two  girls  burst  out  laughing,  and  George  blushed  deeply, 
in  shame  and  irritation. 

*'  First  of  all,"  said  he,  stammering  with  confusion,  "  she 
had  a  little  Arab,  the  wickedest  animal  I  ever  saw.  It 
wasn't  safe  to  approach  him;  he  struck  out  with  his 
forelegs  —  " 

"Come,  Nelly,"  said  Julia,  rising,  "we'll  go  into  the 
drawing-room,  and  leave  George  to  explain  how  he  tamed 
the  Arab  and  captivated  the  Arab's  mistress,  for  your 
brother  might  like  to  learn  the  secret.  You  '11  join  us, 
gentlemen,  when  you  wish  for  coffee." 

"  That  was  scarcely  fair,  Julia  dear,"  said  Nelly,  when 
they  were  alone.  "  Your  banter  is  sometimes  too  sharp  for 
him." 

"I  can't  help  it,  dearest  —  it  is  a  part  of  my  nature. 
When  I  was  a  child,  they  could  not  take  me  to  a  wild-beast 
show,  for  I  would  insist  on  poking  straws  at  the  tiger  —  not 
that  poor  dear  George  has  much  '  tiger '  in  him.  But  do  j^ou 
know,  Nelly,"  said  she,  in  a  graver  tone,  "  that  when  people 
are  very  poor,  when  their  daily  lives  are  beset  by  the  small 
accidents  of  narrow  fortune,  there  is  a  great  philosophy  in  a 
little  banter?  You  brush  away  many  an  annoyance  by  seem- 
ing to  feel  it  matter  for  drollery,  which,  if  taken  seriously, 
might  have  made  you  fretful  and  peevish." 

"I  never  suspected  there  was  method  in  your  madness, 
Ju,"  said  Nelly,  smiling. 

"  Nor  was  there,  dearest;  the  explanation  was  almost  an 
afterthought.     But  come  now  and  tell  me  about  yourselves." 

"  There  is  really  little  to  tell.  Augustus  never  speaks  to 
me  now  of  business  matters.  I  think  I  can  see  that  he  is 
not  fully  satisfied  with  himself ;  but,  rather  than  show  weak- 
ness or  hesitation,  he  is  determined  to  go  on  as  he  began." 

"  And  you  are  really  going  to  this  dreary  place?  " 

"  He  says  so." 

"Would  any  good  come,  I  wonder,  of  bringing  your 
brother  and  Pracontal  together?  They  are  both  men  of 
high  and  generous  feelings.  Each  seems  to  think  that  there 
ought  to  be  some  other  settlement  than  a  recourse  to  law- 
yers.    Do  you  think  he  would  refuse  to  meet  Pracontal?" 


382  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

**  That  is  a  mere  chance.  There  are  days  he  would  not 
listen  to  such  a  proposal,  and  there  are  times  he  would  ac- 
cept it  heartily ;  but  the  suggestion  must  not  come  from  me. 
With  all  his  love  for  me,  he  rather  thinks  that  I  secretly 
disapprove  of  what  he  has  done,  and  would  reverse  it  if  I 
knew  how." 

' '  What  if  I  were  to  hint  at  it  ?  He  already  said  he  wished 
to  see  him.  This  might  be  mere  curiosity,  however.  What 
if  I  were  to  say,  '  Why  not  meet  Pracontal  ?  Why  not  see 
what  manner  of  man  he  is?  There  is  nothing  more  true 
than  the  saying  that  half  the  dislikes  people  conceive  against 
each  other  would  give  way  if  they  would  condescend  to  be- 
come acquainted.'  " 

"As  I  have  just  said,  it  is  a  mere  chance  whether  he 
would  consent,  and  then  —  " 

"Oh,  I  know!  It  would  be  also  a  chance  what  might 
come  of  it." 

Just  as  she  said  this,  the  young  men  entered  the  room, 
with  smiling  faces,  and  apparently  in  high  good-humor. 

"Do  you  know  the  plan  we 've  just  struck  out?"  cried 
Bramleigh.  "  George  is  to  come  and  live  at  Cattaro.  I  'm 
to  make  him  consular  chaplain." 

"But  is  there  such  an  appointment?"  asked  Julia, 
eagerly. 

"  Heaven  knows ;  but  if  there  is  not,  there  ought  to  be." 

"And  the  salary,  Mr.  Bramleigh.  Who  pays  it?  What 
is  it?" 

*' There  again  I  am  at  fault;  but  her  Majesty  could 
never  intend  we  should  live  like  heathens,"  said  Augustus, 
"  and  we  shall  arrange  it  somehow." 

"  Oh,  if  it  were  not  for  '  somehow,'  "  said  Julia,  "  we  poor 
people  would  be  worse  off  in  life  than  we  are ;  but  there 
are  so  many  what  the  watchmakers  call  escapements  in 
existence,  the  machinery  manages  to  survive  scores  of 
accidents." 

"  At  all  events  we  shall  be  all  together,"  said  Augustus, 
"  and  we  shall  show  a  stouter  front  to  fortune  than  if  we 
were  to  confront  her  singly." 

"  I  think  it  a  delightful  plan,"  said  Julia.  "  What  says 
Nelly?" 


A  PLEASANT  DINNER.  383 

*'  I  think,"  said  Nelly,  gravely,  "  that  it  is  more  than  kind 
in  you  to  follow  us  into  our  banishment." 

"  Then  let  us  set  off  at  once,"  said  Augustus,  "  for  I  own 
to  you  I  wish  to  be  out  of  men's  sight,  out  of  ear-shot  of 
their  comments,  while  this  suit  is  going  on.  It  is  the  pub- 
licity that  I  dread  far  more  than  even  the  issue.  Once 
that  we  reach  this  wild  barbarism  we  are  going  to,  you 
will  see  I  will  bear  myself  with  better  spirits  and  better 
temper." 

"  And  will  you  not  see  Monsieur  Pracontal  before  you 
go?  "  asked  Julia. 

"Not  if  I  can  avoid  it;  unless,  indeed,  you  all  think  I 
ought." 

Julia  looked  at  Nelly,  and  then  at  her  brother.  She 
looked  as  if  she  wanted  them  to  say  something  —  anything ; 
but  neither  spoke,  and  then,  with  a  courage  that  never  failed 
her,  she  said,  — 

"  Of  course  we  think  that  a  meeting  between  two  people 
who  have  no  personal  reasons  for  dislike,  but  have  a  great 
question  to  be  decided  in  favor  of  one  of  them,  cannot  but 
be  useful.  If  it  will  not  lead  to  a  friendship,  it  may  at  least 
disarm  a  prejudice." 

"  I  wish  I  had  you  for  my  counsel,  Julia,"  said  Bram- 
leigh,  smiling.     "  Is  it  yet  too  late  to  send  you  a  brief?" 

"  Perhaps  I  am  engaged  for  the  other  side." 

"At  all  events,"  said  he,  more  seriously,  "if  it  be  a 
blunder  to  meet  the  man,  it  cannot  much  matter.  The 
question  between  us  must  be  decided  elsewhere,  and  we 
need  not  add  the  prejudices  of  ignorance  to  the  rancor  of 
self-interest.     I'll  see  him." 

"  That's  right;  I  'm  sure  that's  right,"  said  L'Estrange. 
"I'll  despatch  a  note  to  Lady  Augusta,  who  is  eager  for 
your  answer." 


CHAPTER  XLVI. 

A    STROLL    AND    A    GOSSIP. 

As  well  to  have  a  long  talk  together  as  to  enjoy  the  glorious 
beauty  and  freshness  of  the  Campagna,  the  two  young  men 
set  out  the  next  morning  for  a  walk  to  Rome.  It  was  one 
of  those  still  cold  days  of  winter,  with  a  deep  blue  sky 
above,  and  an  atmosphere  clear  as  crystal  as  they  started. 

There  was  not  in  the  fortunes  of  either  of  them  much  to 
cheer  the  spirits  or  encourage  hope,  and  yet  they  felt  — 
they  knew  not  why  —  a  sense  of  buoyancy  and  light-hearted- 
ness  they  had  not  known  for  many  a  day  back. 

"  How  is  it,  George,"  asked  Augustus,  "  can  you  explain 
it  that  when  the  world  went  well  with  me,  when  I  could  stroll 
out  into  my  own  woods,  and  walk  for  hours  over  my  own 
broad  acres,  I  never  felt  so  cheery  as  I  do  to-day  ?  " 

''  It  was  the  same  spirit  made  you  yesterday  declare  you 
enjoyed  our  humble  dinner  with  a  heartier  zest  than  those 
grand  banquets  that  were  daily  served  up  at  Castello." 

"  Just  so.  But  that  does  not  solve  the  riddle  for  me.  I 
want  to  know  the  why  of  all  this.  It  is  no  high  sustaining 
consciousness  of  doing  the  right  thing ;  no  grand  sense  of 
self-approval :  for,  in  the  first  place,  I  never  had  a  doubt 
that  we  were  not  the  rightful  owners  of  the  estate,  nor 
am  I  now  supported  by  the  idea  that  I  am  certainly  and 
indubitably  on  the  right  road,  because  nearly  all  my  friends 
think  the  very  reverse."  L' Estrange  made  no  answer. 
Bramleigh  went  on:  "You  yourself  are  so  minded,  George. 
Out  with  it,  man ;  say  at  once  you  think  me  wrong." 

' '  I  have  too  little  faith  in  my  own  judgment  to  go  that 
far." 

"  Well,  will  you  say  that  you  would  have  acted  differently 
yourself?     Come,  I  think  you  can  answer  that  question." 


A  STROLL  AND  A  GOSSIP.  385 

"  No,  I  cannot." 

"  You  can't  say  whether  you  would  have  done  as  I  have, 
or  something  quite  different?" 

"No;  there  is  only  one  thing  I  know  I  should  have  done 
—  I'd  have  consulted  Julia." 

If  Bramleigh  laughed  at  this  avowal,  the  other  joined  him, 
and  for  a  while  nothing  was  said  on  either  side.  At  last, 
Bramleigh  said,  "I,  too,  have  a  confession  to  make.  I 
thought  that  if  I  were  to  resist  this  man's  claim  by  the  power 
of  superior  wealth  I  should  be  acting  as  dishonorably  as 
though  I  had  fought  an  unarmed  man  with  a  revolver.  I 
told  Sedley  my  scruples,  but  though  he  treated  them  with 
little  deference,  there  they  were,  and  I  could  not  dismiss 
them.  It  was  this  weakness  —  Sedley  would  give  it  no  other 
name  than  weakness  —  of  mine  that  made  him  incline  to 
settle  the  matter  by  a  compromise.  For  a  while  I  yielded  to 
the  notion  ;  I  'm  afraid  that  I  yielded  even  too  far  —  at  least 
Cutbill  opines  that  one  of  my  letters  actually  gives  a  distinct 
consent,  but  /  don't  think  so.  I  know  that  my  meaning  was 
to  say  to  my  lawyer,  '  This  man's  claim  may  push  me  to 
publicity  and  much  unpleasantness,  without  any  benefit  to 
him.  He  may  make  me  a  nine-days  wonder  in  the  news- 
papers and  a  town  talk,  and  never  reap  the  least  advantage 
from  it.  To  avoid  such  exposure  I  would  pay,  and  pay 
handsomely ;  but  if  you  really  opined  that  I  was  merely 
stifling  a  just  demand,  such  a  compromise  would  only  bring 
me  lasting  misery.'  Perhaps  I  could  not  exactly  define  what 
I  meant;  perhaps  I  expressed  myself  imperfectly  and  ill; 
but  Sedley  always  replied  to  me  by  something  that  seemed 
to  refute  my  reasonings.  At  the  same  time  Lord  Culduff 
and  Temple  treated  my  scruples  with  an  open  contempt.  I 
grew  irritable,  and  possibly  less  reasonable,  and  I  wrote  long 
letters  to  Sedley  to  justify  myself  and  sustain  the  position  I 
had  taken.  Of  these,  indeed  of  none  of  my  letters,  have  I 
copies;  and  I  am  told  now  that  they  contain  admissions 
which  will  show  that  I  yielded  to  the  plan  of  a  compromise. 
Knowing,  however,  what  I  felt  —  what  I  still  feel  on  the 
matter  —  I  will  not  believe  this.  At  all  events,  the  world 
shall  see  now  that  I  leave  the  law  to  take  its  course.  If 
Pracontal  can  establish  his  right,  let  him  take  what  he  owns. 

25 


386  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

I  only  bargain  for  one  thing,  which  is,  not  to  be  expelled 
ignominiously  from  the  house  in  which  I  was  never  the  right- 
ful owner.  It  is  the  act  of  abdication,  George  —  the  moment 
of  dethronement,  that  I  could  not  face.  It  is  an  avowal  of 
great  weakness,  I  know;  but  I  struggle  against  it  in  vain. 
Every  morning  when  I  awoke  the  same  thought  met  me,  am 
1  a  mere  pretender  here?  and  by  some  horrible  perversity, 
which  I  cannot  explain,  the  place,  the  house,  the  grounds, 
the  gardens,  the  shrubberies,  the  deer-park,  grew  inexpres- 
sibly more  dear  to  me  than  ever  I  had  felt  them.  There  was 
not  an  old  ash  on  the  lawn  that  I  did  not  love ;  the  shady 
walks  through  which  I  had  often  passed  without  a  thought 
upon  them  grew  now  to  have  a  hold  upon  and  attraction  for 
me  that  I  cannot  describe.  What  shall  I  be  without  these 
dear  familiar  spots ;  what  will  become  of  me  when  I  shall  no 
longer  have  these  deep  glades,  these  silent  woods,  to  wander 
in  ?  This  became  at  last  so  strong  upon  me  that  I  felt  there 
was  but  one  course  to  take  —  I  must  leave  the  place  at  once, 
and  never  return  to  it  till  I  knew  that  it  was  my  own  beyond 
dispute.  I  could  do  that  now,  while  the  issue  was  still  unde- 
termined, which  would  have  broken  my  heart  if  driven  to  do 
on  compulsion.  Of  course  this  was  a  matter  between  me 
and  my  own  conscience ;  I  had  not  courage  to  speak  of  it  to 
a  lawyer,  nor  did  I.  Sedley,  however,  was  vexed  that  I 
should  take  any  steps  without  consulting  him.  He  wrote  me 
a  letter  —  almost  an  angry  letter  —  and  he  threatened  —  for 
it  really  amounted  to  a  threat,  to  say  that,  to  a  client  so  de- 
cidedly bent  on  guiding  his  own  case,  he  certainly  felt  his 
services  could  scarcely  be  advantageously  contributed.  I 
rejoined,  perhaps  not  without  irritation ;  and  I  am  now 
expecting  by  each  post  either  his  submission  to  my  views,  or 
to  hear  that  he  has  thrown  up  the  direction  of  my  cause." 

"And  he  was  your  father's  adviser  for  years!"  said 
L'Estrange,  with  a  tone  almost  despondent. 

"  But  for  which  he  never  would  have  assumed  the  tone  of 
dictation  he  has  used  towards  me.  Lord  Culduff,  I  remem- 
ber, said,  '  The  first  duty  of  a  man  on  coming  to  his  property 
is  to  change  his  agent,  and  his  next  to  get  rid  of  the  old  ser- 
vants.' I  do  not  like  the  theory,  George  ;  but  from  a  certain 
point  of  view  it  is  not  without  reason." 


A  STROLL  AND  A   GOSSIP.  387 

**  I  suspect  that  neither  you  nor  I  want  to  look  at  life 
from  that  point  of  view,"  said  L'Estrange,  with  some 
emotion. 

"  Not  till  we  can't  help,  I  'm  sure;  but  these  crafty  men 
of  the  world  say  that  we  all  arrive  at  their  modus  operandi 
in  the  end ;  that  however  generously,  however  trustfully  and 
romantically,  we  start  on  the  morning  of  life,  before  evening 
we  come  to  see  that  in  this  game  we  call  the  world  it  is  only 
the  clever  player  that  escapes  ruin." 

'*  I  don't  —  that  is,  I  won't  believe  that." 

"Quite  right,  George.  The  theory  would  tell  terribly 
against  fellows  like  us ;  for,  let  us  do  our  very  best,  we  must 
be  bunglers  at  the  game.  What  a  clever  pair  of  hacks 
are  those  yonder !  that  gray  the  lady  is  on  has  very  showy 
action." 

"  Look  at  the  liver  chestnut  the  groom  is  riding  —  there  's 
the  horse  for  my  money  —  so  long  and  so  low  —  a  regular 
turnspit,  and  equal  to  any  weight.  I  declare,  that 's  Lady 
Augusta,  and  that's  Pracontal  with  her.  See  how  the 
Frenchman  charges  the  ox-fences ;  he  '11  come  to  grief  if  he 
rides  at  speed  against  timber." 

The  party  on  horseback  passed  in  a  little  dip  of  the 
ground  near  them  at  a  smart  canter,  and  soon  were  out  of 
sight  again. 

"  What  a  strange  intimacy  for  her,  is  it  not?" 

"  Julia  says,  the  dash  of  indiscretion  in  it  was  the  temp- 
tation she  could  n't  resist,  and  I  suspect  she 's  right.  She 
said  to  me  herself  one  day,  '  I  love  skating,  but  T  never  care 
for  it  except  the  ice  is  so  thin  that  I  hear  it  giving  way  on 
every  side  as  I  go.' " 

''  She  gave  you  her  whole  character  in  that  one  trait.  The 
pleasure  that  was  n't  linked  to  a  peril  had  no  charm  for  her.' 
She  ought,  however,  to  see  that  the  world  will  regard  this 
intimacy  as  a  breach  of  decency." 

''So  she  does;  she's  d^nng  to  be  attacked  about  it;  at 
least,   so  Julia  says." 

"  The  man,  too,  if  he  be  an  artful  fellow,  will  learn  many 
family  details  about  us,  that  may  disserve  us.  If  it  went  no 
further  than  to  know  in  what  spirit  we  treat  his  claim  — 
whether  we  attach  importance  to  his  pretensions  or  not  — 


388  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

these  are  all  things  he  need  not,  should  not  be  informed 
upon." 

"  Cutbill,  who  somehow  hears  everything,  told  us  t'  other 
morning,  that  Pracontal  is  '  posted  up '  —  that  was  his 
phrase  —  as  to  the  temper  and  nature  of  every  member  of 
your  family,  and  knows  to  a  nicety  how  to  deal  with  each." 

"  Then  I  don't  see  why  we  should  meet." 

"Julia  says  it  is  precisely  for  that  very  reason;  people 
are  always  disparaged  by  these  biographical  notices,  their 
caprices  are  assumed  to  be  tastes,  and  their  mere  humors 
are  taken  for  traits  of  character ;  and  she  declares  that  it 
will  be  a  good  service  to  the  truth  that  bringing  you  together. 
Don't  take  my  version,  however,  of  her  reasons,  but  ask  her 
to  give  them  to  you  herself." 

"  Isn't  that  the  wall  of  the  city?  I  declare  we  are  quite 
close  to  Rome  already.  Now  then,  first  to  leave  my  name 
for  Lady  Augusta  —  not  sorry  to  know  I  shall  not  find  her 
at  home,  for  I  never  understood  her,  George.  I  never  do 
understand  certain  people,  whether  their  levity  means  that 
it  is  the  real  nature,  or  simply  a  humor  put  on  to  get  rid 
of  you ;  as  though  to  say,  rather  than  let  you  impose  any 
solemnity  upon  me,  or  talk  seriously,  I  '11  have  a  game  at 
shuttlecock ! " 

"She  always  puzzled  me,"  said  L'Estrange,  "but  that 
wasn't  hard  to  do." 

"I  suspect,  George,  that  neither  you  nor  I  know  much 
about  women." 

"  For  my  part,  I  know  nothing  at  all  about  them." 

"And  I  not  much." 

After  this  frank  confession  on  either  side,  they  walked 
along,  each  seemingly  deep  in  his  own  thought,  and  said 
little  till  they  reached  the  city.  Leaving  them,  then,  on 
their  way  to  Lady  Augusta's  house,  where  Bramleigh  desired 
to  drop  his  card,  we  turn  for  a  moment  to  the  little  villa  at 
Albano,  in  front  of  which  a  smart  groom  was  leading  a 
lady's  horse,  while  in  the  distance  a  solitary  rider  was 
slowly  walking  his  horse,  and  frequently  turning  his  looks 
towards  the  gate  of  the  villa. 

The  explanation  of  all  this  was,  that  Lady  Augusta  had 
taken  the  opportunity  of  being  near  the  L'Estranges  to  pay 


A  STROLL  AND  A  GOSSIP.  389 

a  visit  to  the  Bramleighs,  leaving  Pracontal  to  wait  for  her 
till  she  came  out. 

"  This  visit  is  for  you,  Nelly,"  said  Julia,  as  she  read  the 
card  ;  "  and  I  '11  make  my  escape." 

She  had  but  time  to  get  out  of  the  room  when  Lady 
Augusta  entered. 

''  My  dear  child,"  said  she,  rushing  into  Nelly's  arms, 
and  kissing  her  with  rapturous  affection.  "My  dear  child, 
what  a  happiness  to  see  you  again,  and  how  well  you  are 
looking;  you're  handsomer,  I  declare,  than  Marion.  Yes, 
darling  —  don't  blush  ;  it 's  perfectly  true.  Where  's  Au- 
gustus? has  he  come  with  you?" 

*'  He  has  gone  in  to  Rome  to  see  you,"  said  Nelly,  whose 
face  was  still  crimson,  and  who  felt  flurried  and  agitated  by 
the  flighty  impetuosity  of  the  other. 

''  I  hope  it  was  to  say  that  you  are  both  coming  to  me? 
Yes,  dearest,  I  '11  take  no  excuse.  It  would  be  a  town-talk 
if  you  stopped  anywhere  else ;  and  I  have  such  a  nice  little 
villa  —  a  mere  baby-house;  but  quite  large  enough  to  hold 
you ;  and  my  brother-in-law  will  take  Augustus  about,  and 
show  him  Rome,  and  I  shall  have  you  all  to  myself.  We 
have  much  to  talk  of,  have  n't  we  ?  " 

Nelly  murmured  an  assent,  and  the  other  continued,  — 

*'It's  all  so  sudden,  and  so  dreadful  —  one  doesn't  real- 
ize it ;  at  least,  /  don't.  And  it  usually  takes  me  an  hour 
or  two  of  a  morning  to  convince  me  that  we  are  all  ruined ; 
and  then  I  set  to  work  thinking  how  I  'm  to  live  on  —  I  for- 
get exactly  what  —  how  much  is  it,  darling?  Shall  I  be 
able  to  keep  my  dear  horses ?  I'd  rather  die  than  part  with 
Ben  Azir;  one  of  the  Sultan's  own  breeding;  an  Arab  of 
blue  blood,  Nelly,  think  of  that!  I've  refused  fabulous 
sums  for  him ;  but  he  is  such  a  love,  and  follows  me 
everywhere,  and  rears  up  when  I  scold  him  —  and  all  to  be 
swept  away  as  if  it  was  a  dream.  What  do  you  mean  to 
do,  dearest?  Marry,  of  course.  I  know  that  —  but  in  the 
mean  while?" 

"We  are  going  to  Cattaro.  Augustus  has  been  named 
consul  there." 

"Barling  child,  you  don't  know  what  you  are  saying. 
Is  n't  a  consul  a  horrid  creature  that  lives  in  a  seaport,  and 


390  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

worries  merchant  seamen,  and  imprisons  people  who  have 
no  passports?" 

'*I  declare  I  haven't  a  notion  of  his  duties,"  said  Nelly, 
laughing. 

"  Oh,  I  know  them  perfectly.  Papa  always  wrote  to  the 
consul  about  getting  heavy  baggage  through  the  custom- 
house ;  and  when  our  servants  quarrelled  with  the  porters, 
or  the  hotel  people,  it  was  the  consul  sent  some  of  them  to 
jail ;  but  are  you  aware,  darling,  he  is  n't  a  creature  one 
knows.  They  are  simply  impossible,  dear,  impossible." 
And  as  she  spoke  she  lay  back  in  her  chair,  and  fanned 
herself  as  though  actually  overcome  by  the  violence  of  her 
emotion. 

"I  must  hope  Augustus  will  not  be  impossible;"  and 
Nelly  said  this  with  a  dry  mixture  of  humor  and  vexation. 

"  He  can't  help  it,  dearest.  It  will  be  from  no  fault  of  his 
own.  Let  a  man  be  what  he  may,  once  he  derogates  there  's 
an  end  of  him.  It  sounds  beautifully,  I  know,  to  say  that 
he  will  remain  gentleman  and  man  of  station  through  all  the 
accidents  of  life ;  so  he  might,  darling,  so  long  as  he  did 
nothing  —  absolutely  nothing.  The  moment,  however,  he 
touches  an  e7n2Jloi  it 's  all  over ;  from  that  hour  he  becomes 
the  Customs  creature,  or  the  consul,  or  the  factor,  or  what- 
ever it  be,  irrevocably.  Do  you  know  that  is  the  only  way 
to  keep  men  of  family  out  of  small  official  life?  We  should 
see  them  keeping  lighthouses  if  it  were  not  for  the  obloquy." 

"  And  it  would  be  still  better  than  dependence." 

''  Yes,  dearest,  in  a  novel —  in  a  three-volume  thing  from 
Mudie  —  so  it  would  ;  but  real  life  is  not  half  so  accommo- 
dating. I  '11  talk  to  Gusty  about  this  myself.  And  now,  do 
tell  me  about  yourself.  Is  there  no  engagement?  no  fatal 
attachment  that  all  this  change  of  fortune  has  blighted? 
Who  is  he,  dearest?  tell  me  all!  You  don't  know  what  a 
wonderful  creature  I  am  for  expedients.  There  never  was 
the  like  of  me  for  resources.  I  could  always  pull  any  one 
through  a  difficulty  but  myself." 

"I  am  sorry  I  have  no  web  to  offer  you  for  disentangle- 
ment." 

"  So  then  he  has  behaved  well;  he  has  not  deserted  you 
in  your  change  of  fortune?" 


A  STROLL  AND  A  GOSSIP.  391 

"  There  is  really  no  one  in  the  case,"  said  Nelly,  laughing. 
'''  No  one  to  be  either  faithful  or  unworthy." 

"  Worse  again,  dearest.  There  is  nothing  so  good  at  your 
age  as  an  unhappy  attachment.  A  girl  without  a  griev- 
ance always  mopes ;  and,"  added  she,  with  a  marked  acute- 
ness  of  look,  "  moping  ages  one  quicker  than  downright 
grief.  The  eyes  get  a  heavy  expression,  and  the  mouth 
drags  at  the  corners,  and  the  chin  —  is  n't  it  funny,  now, 
such  a  stolid  feature  as  the  chin  should  take  on  to  worry 
us?  —  but  the  chin  widens  and  becomes  square,  like  those 
Egyptian  horrors  in  the  Museum." 

"I  must  look  to  that,"  said  Nelly,  gravely.  "I'd  be 
shocked  to  find  my  chin  betraying  me." 

"And  men  are  such  wretches.  There  is  no  amount  of 
fretting  they  don't  exact  from  us ;  but  if  we  show  any  signs 
of  it  afterwards  —  any  hard  lines  about  the  eyes,  or  any 
patchiuess  of  color  in  the  cheek  —  they  cry  out,  '  Is  n't  she 
gone  off?'     That's  their  phrase.     'Isn't  she  gone  off?'" 

"  How  well  you  understand  ;   how  well  you  read  them  !  " 

' '  I  should  think  I  do ;  but  after  all,  dearest,  they  have 
very  few  devices :  if  it  was  n't  that  they  can  get  away,  run 
off  to  the  clubs  and  their  other  haunts,  they  would  have  no 
chance  with  us.  See  how  they  fare  in  country  houses,  for 
instance.  How  many  escape  there  !  What  a  nice  stuff  your 
dress  is  made  of !  " 

"  It  was  very  cheap." 

"No  matter;  it's  English.  That's  the  great  thing  here. 
Any  one  can  buy  a  '  gros.'  What  one  really  wants  is  a 
nameless  texture  and  a  neutral  tint.  You  must  positively 
walk  with  me  on  the  Pincian  in  that  dress.  Roman  men 
remark  everything.  You  '11  not  be  ten  minutes  on  the  prom- 
enade till  every  one  will  know  whether  you  wear  two  buttons 
on  your  gloves  or  three." 

' '  How  odious  !  " 

"  How  delightful!  Why,  my  dear  child,  for  whom  do  we 
dress  ?  Not  for  each  other :  no  more  than  the  artists  of  a 
theatre  act  or  sing  for  the  rest  of  the  company.  Our  audi- 
ence is  before  us ;  not  always  a  very  enlightened  or  culti- 
vated one,  but  always  critical.  There,  do  look  at  that  stupid 
groom ;   see  how  he   suffers   my  horse  to  lag   behind :    the 


392  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

certain  way  to  have  him  kicked  by  the  other ;  and  I  should 
die,  I  mean  really  die,  if  anything  happened  to  Ben  Azir. 
By  the  way,  how  well  our  parson  rides !  I  declare  I  like 
him  better  in  the  saddle  than  in  the  pulpit.  They  rave  here 
about  the  way  he  jumps  the  ox-fences.  You  must  say  tant 
des  choses  for  me,  to  him  and  his  sister,  whom  I  fear  I 
have  treated  shamefully.  I  was  to  have  had  her  to  dinner 
one  day,  and  I  forgot  all  about  it ;  but  she  did  n't  mind,  and 
wrote  me  the  prettiest  note  in  the  world.  But  I  always  say, 
it  is  so  easy  for  people  of  small  means  to  be  good-tempered. 
They  have  no  jealousies  about  going  here  or  there ;  no  heart- 
burnings that  such  a  one's  lace  is  Brussels  point,  and  much 
finer  than  their  own.  Don't  you  agree  with  me?  There,  I 
knew  it  would  come  to  that.  He  's  got  the  snaffle  out  of 
Ben  Azir's  mouth,  and  he  's  sure  to  break  away." 

"  That  gentleman  apparently  has  come  to  the  rescue.  See, 
he  has  dismounted  to  set  all  to  rights." 

"  How  polite  of  him  !     Do  you  know  him,  dear?  " 

"  No.  I  may  have  seen  him  before.  I  'm  so  terribly 
short-sighted,  and  this  glass  does  not  suit  me ;  but  I  must 
be  going.  I  suppose  I  had  better  thank  that  strange  man, 
hadn't  I?  Oh,  of  course,  dearest,  you  would  be  too  bash- 
ful ;  but  I  'm  not.  My  old  governess,  Madame  de  Forgeon, 
used  to  say  that  English  people  never  knew  how  to  be  bash- 
ful; they  only  looked  culpable.  And  I  protest  she  was 
right." 

''  The  gentleman  is  evidently  waiting  for  your  gratitude; 
he  is  standing  there  still." 

"  What  an  observant  puss  it  is !  "  said  Lady  Augusta, 
kissing  her.  "  Tell  Gusty  to  come  and  see  me.  Settle  some 
day  to  come  in  and  dine,  and  bring  the  parson :  he 's  a  great 
favorite  of  mine.  Where  have  I  dropped  my  gauntlet?  Oh, 
here  it  is.  Pretty  whip,  isn't  it?  A  present,  a  sort  of  a 
love-gift  from  an  old  Russian  prince,  who  wanted  me  to 
marry  him  :  and  I  said  I  was  afraid  ;  that  I  heard  Russians 
knouted  their  wives.  And  so  he  assured  me  I  should  have 
the  only  whip  he  ever  used,  and  sent  me  this.  It  was  neat, 
or  rather,  as  Dumas  says,  '  La  plaisanterie  n'etait  pas  mal 
pour  un  Cossaque.'     Good-bye,  dearest,  good-bye." 

So  actually  exhausted  was  poor  Nelly  by  the  rattling  im- 


A  STROLL  AND   A   GOSSIP.  393 

petuosity  of  Lady  Augusta's  manner,  her  sudden  transitions, 
and  abrupt  questionings,  that,  when  Julia  entered  the  room, 
and  saw  her  lying  back  in  a  chair,  wearied  looking  and  pale, 
she  asked,  — 

"  Are  you  ill,  dear?  " 

"No;  but  I  am  actually  tired.  Lady  Augusta  has  been 
an  hour  here,  and  she  has  talked  till  my  head  turned." 

"  I  feel  for  you  sincerely.  She  gave  me  one  of  the  worst 
headaches  I  ever  had,  and  then  made  my  illness  a  reason  for 
staying  all  the  evening  here  to  bathe  my  temples." 

"  That  was  good-natured,  however." 

"So  I'd  have  thought,  too,  but  that  she  made  George 
attend  her  with  the  ice  and  the  eau-de-cologne,  and  thus 
maintained  a  little  ambulant  flirtation  with  him,  that,  sick 
as  I  was,  almost  drove  me  mad." 

"  She  means  nothing,  I  am  certain,  by  all  these  levities, 
or,  rather,  she  does  not  care  what  they  mean ;  but  here 
come  our  brothers,  and  I  am  eager  for  news,  if  they  have 
any." 

"Where's  George?"  asked  Julia,  as  Augustus  entered 
alone. 

"  Sir  Marcus  something  caught  him  at  the  gate,  and  asked 
to  have  five  minutes  with  him." 

"That  means  putting  off  dinner  for  an  hour  at  least,'* 
said  she,  half  pettishly.     "  I  must  go  and  warn  the  cook." 


CHAPTER  XLVII. 

APROPOSALINFORM. 

When  Sir  Marcus  Cluff  was  introduced  into  L'Estrange's 
study,  his  first  care  was  to  divest  himself  of  his  various 
"  wraps,"  a  process  not  very  unlike  that  of  the  Hamlet 
gravedigger.  At  length,  he  arrived  at  a  suit  of  entire 
chamois-leather,  in  which  he  stood  forth  like  an  enormous 
frog,  and  sorely  pushed  the  parson's  gravity  in  consequence. 

"  This  is  what  Hazeldean  calls  the  '  chest-sufferer's  true 
cuticle.'  Nothing  like  leather,  my  dear  sir,  in  pulmonic 
affections.  If  I'd  have  known  it  earlier  in  life,  I'd  have 
saved  half  of  my  left  lung,  which  is  now  hopelessly 
hepatized." 

L'Estrange  looked  compassionate,  though  not  very  well 
knowing  what  it  was  he  had  pity  for. 

"Not,"  added  the  invalid,  hastily,  "that  even  this  con- 
stitutes a  grave  constitutional  defect.  Davies  says,  in  his 
second  volume,  that  among  the  robust  men  of  England  you 
would  not  find  one  in  twenty  without  some  lungular  derange- 
ment. He  percussed  me  all  over,  and  was  some  time  before 
he  found  out  the  blot."  The  air  of  triumph  in  which  this 
was  said  showed  L'Estrange  that  he  too  might  afford  to  look 
joyful. 

"  So  that,  with  this  reservation,  sk,  I  do  consider  I  have 
a  right  to  regard  myself,  as  Boreas  pronounced  me,  sound 
as  a  roach." 

"  I  sincerely  hope  so." 

"  You  see,  sk,  I  mean  to  be  frank  with  you.  I  descend 
to  no  concealments." 

It  was  not  very  easy  for  L'Estrange  to  understand  this 
speech,  or  divine  what  especial  necessity  there  was  for  his 
own  satisfaction  as  to  the  condition  of  Sir  Marcus  Cluff's 


A  PROPOSAL  IN  FORM.  395 

viscera ;  he,  however,  assented  in  general  terms  to  the  high 
esteem  he  felt  for  candor  and  openness. 

"No,  my  dear  Mr.  L'Estrange,"  resumed  he,  "without 
this  firm  conviction  —  a  sentiment  based  on  faith  and  the 
stethoscope  together  —  you  had  not  seen  me  here  this  day." 

"  The  weather  is  certainly  trying,"  said  L'Estrange. 

"  I  do  not  allude  to  the  weather,  sir;  the  weather  is,  for 
the  season,  remarkably  fine  weather;  there  was  a  mean 
temperature  of  68°  Fahrenheit  during  the  last  twenty-four 
hours.  I  spoke  of  my  pulmonary  condition,  because  I  am 
aware  people  are  in  the  habit  of  calling  me  consumptive.  It 
is  the  indiscriminating  way  ignorance  treats  a  very  complex 
question ;  and  when  I  assured  you  that  without  an  honest 
conviction  that  organic  mischief  had  not  proceeded  far,  I 
really  meant  what  I  said  when  I  told  you  you  would  not 
have  seen  me  here  this  day." 

Again  was  the  parson  mystified,  but  he  only  bowed. 

"Ah,  sir,"  sighed  the  other,  "why  will  not  people  be 
always  candid  and  sincere?  And  when  shall  we  arrive  at 
the  practice  of  what  will  compel  —  actually  compel  sincerity? 
I  tell  you,  for  instance,  I  have  an  estate  worth  so  much  — 
house  property  here,  and  shares  in  this  or  that  company  — 
but  there  aVe  mortgages,  I  don't  say  how  much  against  me ; 
I  have  no  need  to  say  it.  You  drive  down  to  the  Registra- 
tion OflSce  and  you  learn  to  a  shilling  to  what  extent  I  am 
liable.  Why  not  have  the  same  system  for  physical  condi- 
tion, sir?  Why  can't  you  call  on  the  College  of  Physicians, 
or  whatever  the  body  be,  and  say,  '  How  is  Sir  Marcus 
Cluff?  I'd  like  to  know  about  that  right  auricle  of  his 
heart.  What  about  his  pancreas  ? '  Don't  you  perceive  the 
inestimable  advantage  of  what  I  advise  ?  " 

"I  protest,  sir,  I  scarcely  follow  you.  I  do  not  exactly 
see  how  I  have  the  right,  or  to  what  extent  I  am  interested, 
to  make  this  inquiry." 

"  You  amaze  —  you  actually  amaze  me  !  "  and  Sir  Marcus 
sat  for  some  seconds  contemplating  the  object  of  his  aston- 
ishment. "  I  come  here,  sir,  to  make  an  offer  for  your 
sister's  hand  —  " 

"  Pardon  my  interrupting,  but  I  learn  this  intention  only 
now." 


396  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"Then  you  didn't  read  my  note.  You  didn't  read  the 
'  turn-over.' " 

"I'm  afraid  not.  I  only  saw  what  referred  to  the 
Church." 

"Then,  sir,  you  missed  the  most  important;  had  you 
taken  the  trouble  to  turn  the  page,  you  would  have  seen 
that  I  ask  your  permission  to  pay  my  formal  attentions  to 
Miss  L'Estrange.  It  was  with  intention  I  first  discussed  and 
dismissed  a  matter  of  business  ;  I  then  proceeded  to  a  ques- 
tion of  sentiment,  premising  that  I  held  myseli  bound  to 
satisfy  you  regarding  my  property,  and  my  pulmonary  con- 
dition. Mind,  body,  and  estate,  sir,  are  not  coupled  together 
ignorantly,  nor  inharmoniously ;  as  you  know  far  better  than 
me  —  mind,  body,  and  estate,"  repeated  he  slowly.  "  I  am 
here  to  satisfy  you  on  each  of  them." 

"Don't  you  think.  Sir  Marcus,  that  there  are  questions 
which  should  possibly  precede  these?" 

"Do  you  mean  Miss  L'Estrange's  sentiments,  sir?" 
George  bowed,  and  Sir  Marcus  continued:  "  I  am  vain 
enough  to  suppose  I  can  make  out  a  good  case  for  myself. 
I  look  more,  but  I'm  only  forty-eight,  forty-eight  on  the 
twelfth  September.  I  have  twenty-seven  thousand  pounds 
in  bank  stock  —  stock,  mind  you  —  and  three  thousand  four 
hundred  a  year  in  land,  Norfolk  property.  I  have  a  share  — 
we  '11  not  speak  of  it  now  —  in  a  city  house ;  and  what 's 
better  than  all,  sir,  not  sixpence  of  debt  in  the  world.  I 
am  aware  your  sister  can  have  no  fortune,  but  I  can  afford 
myself,  what  the  French  call  a  caprice,  though  this  ain't  a 
caprice,  for  I  have  thought  well  over  the  matter,  and  I  see 
she  would  suit  me  perfectly.  She  has  nice  gentle  ways,  she 
can  be  soothing  without  depression,  and  calm  witliout  dis- 
couragement. Ah,  that  is  the  secret  of  secrets !  She  gave 
me  my  drops  last  evening  with  a  tenderness,  a  graceful 
sympathy,  that  went  to  my  heart.  I  want  that,  sir  —  I 
need  it,  I  yearn  for  it.  Simpson  said  to  me  years  ago, 
*  Marry,  Sir  Marcus,  marry !  yours  is  a  temperament  that 
requires  study  and  intelligent  care.  A  really  clever  woman 
gets  to  know  a  pulse  to  perfection ;  they  have  a  finer  sensi- 
bility, a  higher  organization,  too,  in  the  touch.'  Simpson 
laid  great  stress  on  that;  but  I  have  looked  out  in  vain, 


A  PROPOSAL  IN  FORM.  397 

sir.  I  employed  agents :  I  sent  people  abroad ;  I  adver- 
tised in  the  '  Times  '  —  M.  C.  was  in  the  second  column  — 
for  above  two  years ;  and  with  a  correspondence  that  took 
two  clerks  to  read  through  and  minute.  All  to  no  end ! 
All  in  vain !  They  tell  me  that  the  really  competent  people 
never  do  reply  to  an  advertisement ;  that  one  must  look  out 
for  them  oneself,  make  private  personal  inquiry.  Well,  sir, 
I  did  that,  and  I  got  into  some  unpleasant  scrapes  with  it, 
and  two  actions  for  breach  of  promise ;  two  thousand 
pounds  the  last  cost  me,  though  I  got  my  verdict,  sir ;  the 
Chief  Baron  very  needlessly  recommending  me,  for  the 
future,  to  be  cautious  in  forming  the  acquaintance  of  ladies, 
and  to  avoid  widows  as  a  general  rule.  These  are  the 
pleasantries  of  the  Bench,  and  doubtless  they  amuse  the 
junior  bar.  I  declare  to  you,  sir,  in  all  seriousness,  I  'd 
rather  that  a  man  should  give  me  a  fillip  on  the  nose  than 
take  the  liberty  of  a  joke  with  me.  It  is  the  one  insuffer- 
able thing  in  life."  This  sally  had  so  far  excited  him  that 
it  was  some  minutes  ere  he  recovered  his  self-possession. 
"  Now,  Mr.  L'Estrange,"  said  he,  at  last,  "  I  bind  you  in 
no  degree  —  I  pledge  you  to  nothing ;  I  simply  ask  leave 
to  address  myself  to  your  sister.  It  is  what  lawyers  call 
a   'motion  to  show  cause  why.'" 

''  I  perceive  that,"  broke  in  L'Estrange  ;  "  but  even  that 
much  I  ought  not  to  concede  without  consulting  my  sister 
and  obtaining  her  consent.  You  will  allow  me  therefore 
time." 

''Time,  sir!  My  nerves  must  not  be  agitated.  There 
can  be  no  delays.  It  was  not  without  a  great  demand  on 
my  courage,  and  a  strong  dose  of  chlorodine  —  Japps's 
preparation  —  that  I  made  this  effort  now.  Don't  imagine 
I  can  sustain  it  much  longer.  No,  sir,  I  cannot  give 
time." 

"  After  all.  Sir  Marcus,  you  can  scarcely  suppose  that 
my  sister  is  prepared  for  such  a  proposition." 

"  Sir,  they  are  always  prepared  for  it.  It  never  takes 
them  unawares.  I  have  made  them  my  study  for  years,  and 
I  do  think  I  have  some  knowledge  of  their  way  of  thinking 
and  acting.  I  '11  lay  my  life  on  it,  if  you  will  go  and  say, 
'Maria'  —  " 


398  THE   BP.AMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOPS  FOLLY. 

*'My  sister's  name  is  Julia,"  said  the  other,  dryly. 

*' It  may  be,  sir — I  said  'Maria'  generically,  and  I 
repeat  it  — '  Maria,  there  is  in  my  study  at  this  moment 
a  gentleman,  of  irreproachable  morals  and  unblemished  con- 
stitution, whose  fortune  is  sufficiently  ample  to  secure  many 
comforts  and  all  absolute  necessaries,  who  desires  to  make 
you  his  wife ; '  her  first  exclamation  will  be,  '  It  is  Sir 
Marcus  Cluff.'" 

"  It  is  not  impossible,"  said  L'Estrange,  gravely. 

"  The  rest,  sir,  is  not  with  you,  nor  even  with  me.  Do 
me,  then,  the  great  favor  to  bear  my  message." 

Although  seeing  the  absurdity  of  the  situation,  and 
vaguely  forecasting  the  way  Julia  might  possibly  hear  the 
proposition,  L'Estrange  was  always  so  much  disposed  to 
yield  to  the  earnestness  of  any  one  who  persisted  in  a  de- 
mand, that  he  bowed  and  left  the  room. 

"Well,  George,  he  has  proposed?"  cried  Julia,  as  her 
brother  entered  the  room,  where  she  sat  with  Nelly  Bram- 
leigh. 

He  nodded  only,  and  the  two  girls  burst  out  into  a  merry 
laugh. 

"Come,  come,  Julia,"  said  he,  reprovingly.  "Absurd 
as  it  may  seem,  the  man  is  in  earnest,  and  must  be  treated 
with  consideration." 

"  But  tell  us  the  whole  scene.  Let  us  have  it  all  as  it 
occurred." 

"I  '11  do  nothing  of  the  kind.  It 's  quite  enough  to  say 
that  he  declares  he  has  a  good  fortune,  and  wishes  to  share 
it  with  you ;  and  I  think  the  expression  of  that  wish  should 
secure  him  a  certain  deference  and  respect." 

"But  who  refuses,  who  thinks  of  refusing  him  all  the 
deference  and  respect  he  could  ask  for?  Not  I,  certainly. 
Come  now,  like  a  dear  good  boy,  let  us  hear  all  he  said, 
and  what  you  replied.  I  suspect  there  never  was  a  better 
bit  of  real-life  comedy.  I  only  wish  I  could  have  had  a 
part  in  it." 

"Not  too  late  yet,  perhaps,"  said  Nell}^  with  a  dry 
humor.     "The  fifth  act  is  only  beginning." 

"  That  is  precisely  what  I  am  meditating.  George  will 
not  tell  me  accurately  what   took   place  in  his    interview, 


A  PROPOSAL   IN  FORM.  399 

and  I  think  I  could  not  do  better  than  go  and   learn   Sir 
Marcus'  sentiments  for  myself." 

She  arose  and  appeared  about  to  leave  the  room,  when 
L'Estrange  sprang  towards  the  door,  and  stood  with  his 
back  against  it. 

"You're  not  serious,  Ju?"  cried  he,  in  amazement. 

"I  should  say  very  serious.  If  Sir  Marcus  only  makes 
out  his  case,  as  favorably  as  you,  with  all  jouv  bungling, 
can't  help  representing  it,  why  —  all  things  considered,  eh, 
Nelly?  you,  I  know,  agree  with  me  —  I  rather  suspect  the 
proposition  might  be  entertained." 

"Oh,  this  is  too  monstrous.  It  is  beyond  all  belief," 
cried  L'Estrange. 

And  he  rushed  from  the  room  in  a  torrent  of  passion, 
while  Julia  sank  back  in  a  chair,  and  laughed  till  her  eyes 
ran  over  with  tears  of  merriment. 

"  How  could  you,  Julia !  Oh,  how  could  you !  "  said 
Nelly,  as  she  leaned  over  her  and  tried  to  look  reproachful. 

"If  you  mean,  how  could  I  help  quizzing  him,  I  can 
understand  you;  but  I  could  not  —  no,  Nelly,  I  could  not 
help  it!  It  is  my  habit  to  seize  on  the  absurd  side  of  any 
embarrassment;  and  you  may  be  sure  there  is  always  one 
if  you  only  look  for  it;  and  you've  no  idea  how  much 
pleasanter  —  ay,  and  easier,  too  —  it  is  to  laugh  oneself  out 
of  difficulties  than  to  grieve  over  them.  You  '11  see  George, 
now,  will  be  spirited  up,  out  of  pure  fright,  to  do  what  he 
ought;  to  tell  this  man  that  his  .proposal  is  an  absurdity, 
and  that  young  women,  even  as  destitute  of  fortune  as 
myself,  do  not  marry  as  nursetenders.  There!  I  declare 
that  is  Sir  Marcus  driving  away  already.  Only  think  with 
what  equanimity  I  can  see  wealth  and  title  taking  leave  of 
me.     Never  say  after  that  that  I  have  not  courage." 


CHAPTER   XLYin. 


"This  is  a  very  eventful  day  for  me,  George,"  said  Augus- 
tus, as  they  strolled  through  the  garden  after  breakfast. 
"The  trial  was  fixed  for  the  13th,  and  to-day  is  the  14th; 
I  suppose  the  verdict  will  be  given  to-day." 

"But  you  have  really  no  doubt  of  the  result?  I  mean, 
no  more  than  anxiety  on  so  momentous  a  matter  must 
suggest?" 

"Pardon  me.  I  have  grave  doubts.  There  was  such  a 
marriage,  as  is  alleged,  formed  by  my  grandfather;  a  mar- 
riage in  every  respect  legal.  They  may  not  have  the  same 
means  of  proving  that  which  we  have;  but  we  know  it. 
There  was  a  son  born  to  that  marriage.  We  have  the  letter 
of  old  Lami,  asking  my  grandfather  to  come  over  to  Bruges 
for  the  christening,  and  we  have  the  receipt  of  Hodges  and 
Smart,  the  jewellers,  for  a  silver  gilt  ewer  and  cup  which 
were  engraved  with  the  Bramleigh  crest  and  cypher,  and 
despatched  to  Belgium  as  a  present;  for  my  grandfather 
did  not  go  himself,  pretexting  something  or  other,  which 
evidently  gave  offence;  for  Lami's  next  letter  declares  that 
the  present  has  been  returned,  and  expresses  a  haughty 
indignation  at  my  grandfather's  conduct.  I  can  vouch  for 
all  this.  It  was  a  sad  morning  when  I  first  saw  those 
papers;  but  I  did  see  them,  George,  and  they  exist  still. 
That  son  of  my  grandfather's  they  declare  to  have  married, 
and  his  son  is  this  Pracontal.  There  is  the  whole  story, 
and  if  the  latter  part  of  the  narrative  be  only  as  truthful  as 
I  believe  the  first  to  be,  he,  and  not  I,  is  the  rightful  owner 
of  Castello." 

L'Estrange  made  no  reply;  he  was  slowly  going  over  in 


"A  TELEGRAM."  401 

Ms  mind  the  chain  of  connection,  and  examining,  link  by 
link,  how  it  held  together. 

"But  why,"  asked  he  at  length,  "was  not  this  claim  pre- 
ferred before?  Why  did  a  whole  generation  suffer  it  to  lie 
dormant  ?  " 

"  That  is  easily  —  too  easily  explained.  Lami  was  com- 
promised in  almost  every  country  in  Europe ;  and  his  son 
succeeded  him  in  his  love  of  plot  and  conspiracy.  Letters 
occasionally  reached  my  father  from  this  latter;  some  of 
them  demanding  money  in  a  tone  of  actual  menace.  A 
confidential  clerk,  who  knew  all  my  father's  secrets,  and 
whom  he  trusted  most  implicitly,  became  one  day  a 
defaulter,  and  absconded,  carrying  with  him  a  quantity  of 
private  papers,  some  of  which  were  letters  written  by  my 
father,  and  containing  remittances  which  Montague  Lami,  — 
or  Louis  Langrange,  or  whatever  other  name  he  bore,  —  of 
course,  never  received,  and  indignantly  declared  he  believed 
had  never  been  despatched.  This  clerk,  whose  name  was 
Hesketh,  made  Lami's  acquaintance  in  South  America,  and 
evidently  encouraged  him  to  prefer  his  claim  with  greater 
assurance,  and  led  him  to  suppose  that  any  terms  he  pre- 
ferred must  certainly  be  complied  with!  But  I  cannot  go 
on,  George;  the  thought  of  my  poor  father  struggling 
through  life  in  this  dark  conflict  rises  up  before  me,  and 
now  I  estimate  the  terrible  alternation  of  hope  and  fear  in 
which  he  must  have  lived,  and  how  despairingly  he  must 
have  thought  of  a  future,  when  this  deep  game  should  be 
left  to  such  weak  hands  as  mine.  I  thought  they  were 
cruel  words  once,  in  which  he  spoke  of  my  unfitness  to 
meet  a  great  emergency  —  but  now  I  read  them  very 
differently." 

"Then  do  you  really  think  he  regarded  this  claim  as 
rightful  and  just  ?  " 

"I  cannot  tell  that;  at  moments  I  have  leaned  to  this 
impression;  but  many  things  dispose  me  to  believe  that 
he  saw  or  suspected  some  flaw  that  invalidated  the  claim, 
but  still  induced  him  to  silence  the  pretension  by  hush 
money." 

"  And  you  yourself  —  " 

"Don't  ask  me,  my  dear  friend;  do  not  ask  me  the  ques- 

26 


402  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

tion  I  see  is  on  your  lips.  I  have  no  courage  to  confess, 
even  to  you,  through  how  many  moods  I  pass  every  day  I 
live.  At  moments  I  hope  and  firmly  believe  I  rise  above 
every  low  and  interested  sentiment,  and  determine  I  will 
do  as  I  would  be  done  by;  I  will  go  through  this  trial  as 
though  it  were  a  matter  apart  from  me,  and  in  which  truth 
and  justice  were  my  only  objects.  There  are  hours  in 
which  I  feel  equal  to  any  sacrifice,  and  could  say  to  this 
man:  —  'There!  take  it;  take  all  we  have  in  the  world. 
We  have  no  right  to  be  here ;  we  are  beggars  and  outcasts. 
And  then  —  I  can't  tell  how  or  why  —  it  actually  seems  as 
if  there  was  a  real  Tempter  in  one's  nature,  lying  in  wait 
for  the  moment  of  doubt  and  hesitation;  but  suddenly, 
quick  as  a  flash  of  lightning,  a  thought  would  dart  across 
my  mind,  and  I  would  begin  to  canvass  this  and  question 
that;  not  fairly,  not  honestly,  mark  you,  but  casuistically 
and  cunningly ;  and  worse,  far  worse  than  all  this  — 
actually  hoping,  no  matter  on  which  side  lay  the  right,  that 
we  should  come  out  victorious." 

"But  have  you  not  prejudiced  your  case  by  precipitancy? 
They  tell  me  that  you  have  given  the  others  immense  advan- 
tage by  your  openly  declared  doubts  as  to  your  title." 

"That  is  possible.  I  will  not  deny  that  I  may  have  acted 
imprudently.  The  compromise  to  which  I  at  first  agreed 
struck  me,  on  reflection,  as  so  ignoble  and  dishonorable, 
that  I  rushed  just  as  rashly  into  the  opposite  extreme.  I 
felt,  in  fact,  George,  as  though  I  owed  this  man  a  repara- 
tion for  having  ever  thought  of  stifling  his  claim;  and  I 
carried  this  sentiment  so  far  that  Sedley  asked  me  one  day, 
in  a  scornful  tone,  what  ill  my  family  had  done  me,  I  was 
so  bent  on  ruining  them?  Oh,  my  dear  friend,  if  it  be  a 
great  relief  to  me  to  open  my  heart  to  you,  it  is  with  shame 
I  confess  that  I  cannot  tell  you  truthfully  how  weak  and 
unable  I  often  feel  to  keep  straight  in  the  path  I  have 
assigned  myself.  How,  when  some  doubt  of  this  man's 
right  shoots  across  me,  I  hail  the  hesitation  like  a  blessing 
from  heaven.  What  I  w^ould  do,  what  I  would  endure  that 
he  could  not  show  his  claim  to  be  true,  I  dare  not  own.  I 
have  tried  to  reverse  our  positions  in  my  own  mind,  and 
imagine  I  was  he;   but  I  cannot  pursue  the  thought,    for 


"A  TELEGRAM."  403 

whenever  the  dread  final  rises  before  me,  and  T  picture  to 
myself  our  ruin  and  destitution,  I  can  but  think  of  him,  as 
a  deadly  implacable  enemy.  This  sacrifice,  then,  that  I 
purpose  to  make  with  a  pure  spirit  and  a  high  honor,  is  too 
much  for  me.  I  have  not  courage  for  that  I  am  doing ;  but 
I'll  do  it  still!" 

L'Estrange  did  his  utmost  to  rally  him  out  of  his  depres- 
sion, assuring  him  that,  as  the  world  went,  few  men  would 
have  attempted  to  do  what  he  had  determined  on,  and 
frankly  owning,  that  in  talking  over  the  matter  with  Julia, 
they  were  both  disposed  to  regard  his  conduct  as  verging 
on  Quixotism. 

"  And  that  is  exactly  the  best  thing  people  will  say  of  it. 
I  am  lucky  if  they  will  even  speak  so  favorably." 

"What's  this, — a  telegram?"  cried  L' Estrange,  as  the 
servant  handed  him  one  of  those  square-shaped  missives, 
so  charged  with  destiny  that  one  really  does  not  know 
whether  to  bless  or  curse  the  invention,  which,  annihilating 
space,  brings  us  so  quickly  face  to  face  with  fortune. 

"Read  it,  George;  I  cannot,"  muttered  Bramleigh,  as  he 
stood  against  a  tree  for  support. 

"Ten  o'clock.  Court-house,  Navan.  Jury  just  come  out  — 
cannot  agree  to  verdict  —  discharged.     New  trial.     T  write  post. 

"  Sedley." 

"Thank  heaven,  there  is  at  least  a  respite,"  said  Bram- 
leigh; and  he  fell  on  the  other's  shoulder,  and  hid  his 
face. 

"  Bear  up,  my  poor  fellow.  You  see  that,  at  all  events, 
nothing  has  happened  up  to  this.  Here  are  the  girls  com- 
ing.    Let  them  not  see  you  in  such  emotion." 

"Come  away,  then;  come  away.  I  can't  meet  them  now; 
or  do  you  go  and  tell  Nelly  what  this  news  is  —  she  has 
seen  the  messenger,  I  'm  sure." 

L' Estrange  met  Nelly  and  Julia  in  the  walk,  while  Augus- 
tus hastened  away  in  another  direction.  "There  has  been 
no  verdict.  Sedley  sends  his  message  from  the  court-house 
this  morning,  and  says  the  jury  cannot  agree,  and  there 
will  be  another  trial." 

"Is  that  bad  or  good  news?"  asked  Nelly,  eagerly. 


404  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

"I'd  say  good,"  replied  he;  "at  least,  when  I  compare 
it  with  your  brother's  desponding  tone  this  morning.  I 
never  saw  him  so  low." 

"Oh,  he  is  almost  always  so  of  late.  The  coming  here 
and  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you  rallied  him  for  a  moment, 
but  I  foresaw  his  depression  would  return.  I  believe  it  is 
the  uncertainty,  the  never-ceasing  terror  of  what  next,  is 
breaking  him  down ;  and  if  the  blow  fell  at  once,  you  would 
see  him  behave  courageously  and  nobly." 

"He  ought  to  get  away  from  this  as  soon  as  possible," 
said  L'Estrange.  ''He  met  several  acquaintances  yester- 
day in  Kome,  and  they  teased  him  to  come  to  them,  and 
worried  him  to  tell  where  he  was  stopping.  In  his  present 
humor  he  could  not  go  into  society,  but  he  is  ashamed  to 
his  own  heart  to  admit  it." 

"Then  why  don't  we  go  at  once?  "  cried  Julia. 

"There's  nothing  to  detain  us  here,"  said  L'Estrange, 
sorrowfully. 

"Unless  you  mean  to  wait  for  my  marriage,"  said  Julia, 
laughing,  "though,  possibly.  Sir  Marcus  may  not  give  me 
another  chance." 

"Oh,  Julia!" 

"'Oh,  Julia! '  Well,  dearest,  I  do  say  shocking  things, 
there  's  no  doubt  of  it;  but  when  I  've  said  them,  I  feel  the 
subject  off  my  conscience,  and  revert  to  it  no  more." 

"At  all  events,"  said  L'Estrange,  after  a  moment  of 
thought,  "let  us  behave  when  we  meet  him  as  though  this 
news  was  not  bad.  I  know  he  will  try  to  read  in  our  faces 
what  we  think  of  it,  and  on  every  account  it  is  better  not 
to  let  him  sink  into  depression." 

The  day  passed  over  in  that  discomfort  which  a  false 
position  so  inevitably  imposes.  The  apparent  calm  was  a 
torture,  and  the  efforts  at  gayety  were  but  moments  of 
actual  pain.  The  sense  of  something  impending  was  so 
poignant  that  at  every  stir  —  the  opening  of  a  door  or  the 
sound  of  a  bell  —  there  came  over  each  a  look  of  anxiety 
the  most  intense  and  eager.  All  their  attempts  at  conver- 
sation were  attended  with  a  fear  lest  some  unhappy  expres- 
sion, some  ill-timed  allusion  might  suggest  the  very  thought 
they  were  struggling  to  suppress;  and  it  was  with  a  feeling 


"A  TELEGRAM."  405 

of  relief  they  parted  and  said  good-night,  where,  at  other 
times,   there  had  been  only  regret  at  separating. 

Day  after  day  passed  in  the  same  forced  and  false  tran- 
quillity, the  preparations  for  the  approaching  journey  being 
the  only  relief  to  the  intense  anxiety  that  weighed  like  a 
load  on  each.  At  length,  on  the  fifth  morning,  there  came 
a  letter  to  Augustus  in  the  well-known  hand  of  Sedley,  and 
he  hastened  to  his  room  to  read  it.  Some  sharp  passages 
there  had  been  between  them  of  late  on  the  subject  of  the 
compromise,  and  Bramleigh,  in  a  moment  of  forgetfulness 
and  anger,  even  went  so  far  as  to  threaten  that  he  would 
have  recourse  to  the  law  to  determine  whether  his  agent  had 
or  had  not  overstepped  the  bounds  of  his  authority,  and 
engaged  in  arrangements  at  total  variance  to  all  his  wishes 
and  instructions.  A  calm  but  somewhat  indignant  reply 
from  Sedley,  however,  recalled  Bramleigh  to  reconsider  his 
words,  and  even  ask  pardon  for  them,  and  since  that  day 
their  intercourse  had  been  more  cordial  and  frank  than  ever. 
The  present  letter  was  very  long,  and  quite  plainly  written, 
with  a  strong  sense  of  the  nature  of  him  it  was  addressed 
to.  For  Sedley  well  knew  the  temper  of  the  man,  —  his 
moods  of  high  resolve  and  his  moments  of  discouragement, 
—  his  desire  to  be  equal  to  a  great  effort,  and  his  terrible 
consciousness  that  his  courage  could  not  be  relied  on.  The 
letter  began  thus :  — 

My  dear  Sir,  —  If  I  cannot,  as  I  hoped,  announce  a  victory, 
I  am  able  at  least  to  say  that  we  have  not  been  defeated.  The 
case  was  fairly  and  dispassionately  stated,  and  probably  an  issue 
of  like  importance  was  never  discussed  with  less  of  acrimony,  or 
less  of  that  captious  and  overreaching  spirit  which  is  too  common 
in  legal  contests.  This  was  so  remarkable  as  to  induce  the  judge 
to  comment  on  it  in  his  charge,  and  declare  that  in  all  his  experi- 
ence on  the  bench,  he  had  never  before  witnessed  anything  so 
gratifying  or  so  creditable  alike  to  plaintiff  and  defendant. 

Lawson  led  for  the  other  side,  and,  I  will  own,  made  one  of  the 
best  openings  I  ever  listened  to,  disclaiming  at  once  any  wish  to 
appeal  to  sympathies  or  excite  feeling  of  pity  for  misfortunes  car- 
ried on  through  three  generations  of  blameless  sufferers ;  he  simply 
directed  the  jury  to  follow  him  in  the  details  of  a  brief  and  not 
very  complicated  story,  every  step  of  which  he  would  confirm  and 
establish  by  evidence. 


406  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

The  studious  simplicity  of  his  narrative  was  immense  art,  and 
though  he  carefully  avoided  even  a  word  that  could  be  called  high- 
flown,  he  made  the  story  of  Montague  Bramleigh's  courtship  of  the 
beautiful  Italian  girl  one  of  the  most  touching  ex)isodes  I  ever 
listened  to. 

The  marriage  was,  of  course,  the  foundation  of  the  whole  claim, 
and  he  arrayed  all  his  proofs  of  it  with  great  skill.  The  recogni- 
tion in  your  grandfather's  letters,  and  the  tone  of  affection  in 
which  they  were  written,  his  continual  reference  to  her  in  his  life, 
left  little  if  any  doubt  on  the  minds  of  the  jury,  even  though  there 
was  nothing  formal  or  official  to  show  that  the  ceremony  of  mar- 
riage had  passed ;  he  reminded  the  jury  that  the  defence  would 
rely  greatly  on  this  fact,  but  the  fact  of  a  missing  registry-book 
was  neither  so  new  nor  so  rare  in  this  country  as  to  create  any 
astonishment,  and  when  he  offered  proof  that  the  church  and  the 
vestry-room  had  been  sacked  by  the  rebels  in  '98,  the  evidence 
seemed  almost  superfluous.  The  birth  and  baptism  of  the  child 
he  established  thoroughly  ;  and  here  he  stood  on  strong  grounds, 
for  the  infant  was  christened  at  Brussels  by  the  Protestant  chap- 
lain of  the  Legation  at  the  Hague,  and  he  produced  a  copy  of  the 
act  of  registry,  stating  the  child  to  be  son  of  Montague  Bramleigh, 
of  Cossenden  Manor,  and  Grosvenor  Square,  London,  and  of  En- 
richetta  his  wife.  Indeed,  as  Lawson  declared,  if  these  unhappy 
foreigners  had  ever  even  a  glimmering  suspicion  that  the  just 
rights  of  this  poor  child  were  to  be  assailed  and  his  inheritance 
denied  him,  they  could  not  have  taken  more  careful  and  cautious 
steps  to  secure  his  succession  than  the  simple  but  excellent  pre- 
cautions they  had  adopted. 

The  indignation  of  Lami  at  what  he  deemed  the  unfeeling  and 
heartless  conduct  of  Montague  Bramleigh  —  his  cold  reception  of 
the  news  of  his  son's  birth,  and  the  careless  tone  in  which  he  ex- 
cused himself  from  going  over  to  the  christening  —  rose  to  such  a 
pitch  that  he  swore  the  boy  should  never  bear  his  father's  name, 
nor  ever  in  any  way  be  beholden  to  him,  and  "  this  rash  oath  it 
was  that  has  carried  misery  down  to  another  generation,  and  in- 
volved in  misfortune  others  not  more  blameless  nor  more  truly  to 
be  pitied  than  he  who  now  seeks  redress  at  your  hands."  This 
was  the  last  sentence  he  uttered  after  speaking  three  hours,  and 
obtaining  a  slight  pause  to  recruit  his  strength. 

Issue  of  Montague  Bramleigh  being  proved,  issue  of  that  issue 
was  also  established,  and  your  father's  letters  were  given  in  evi- 
dence to  show  how  he  had  treated  with  these  claimants  and  givou 
largely  in  money  to  suppress  or  silence  their  demands.  Thos. 
Bolton,  of  the  house  of  Parker  and  Bolton,  bankers.  Naples,  proved 
the  receipt  of  various  sums  from  Montague  Bramleigh  in  favor  of 


"A  TELEGRAM."  407 

A.  B.  C,  for  so  tlie  claimant  was  designated,  private  confidential 
letters  to  Bolton  showing  that  these  initials  were  used  to  indicate 
one  who  went  under  many  aliases,  and  needed  every  precaution  to 
escape  the  police.  Bolton  proved  the  journal  of  Giacomo  Lami, 
which  he  had  often  had  in  his  own  possession.  In  fact  this  wit 
ness  damaged  us  more  than  all  the  rest ;  his  station  and  position 
in  life,  and  the  mode  in  which  he  behaved  under  examination, 
having  great  effect  on  the  jury,  and  affording  Lawson  a  favorable 
opportunity  of  showing  what  confidence  was  felt  in  the  claimant's 
pretensions  by  a  man  of  wealth  and  character,  even  when  the  com- 
plications of  political  conspiracy  had  served  to  exhibit  him  as  a 
dangerous  adventurer. 

Waller's  reply  was  able,  but  riot  equal  to  his  best  efforts.  It 
is  but  fair  to  him,  however,  to  state  that  he  complained  of  our 
instructions,  and  declared  that  your  determination  not  to  urge 
anything  on  a  point  of  law,  nor  tender  opposition  on  grounds 
merely  technical,  left  him  almost  powerless  in  the  case.  He  devoted 
his  attention  almost  entirely  to  disprove  the  first  marriage,  that  of 
Mr.  B.  with  Enrichetta  Lami ;  he  declared  that,  the  relative  rank 
of  the  parties  considered,  the  situation  in  which  they  were  placed 
towards  each  other,  and  all  the  probabilities  of  the  case  duly 
weighed,  there  was  every  reason  to  believe  the  connection  was 
illicit.  This  view  was  greatly  strengthened  by  Mr.  B.'s  subse- 
quent conduct ;  his  refusal  to  go  over  to  the  christening,  and  the 
utter  indifference  he  displayed  to  the  almost  menacing  tone  of  old 
Lami's  letters  ;  and  when  he  indignantly  asked  the  jury  "  if  a 
man  were  likely  to  treat  in  this  manner  his  wife  and  the  mother 
of  his  first-born,  the  heir  to  his  vast  fortune  and  estates,"  there 
was  a  subdued  murmur  in  the  court  that  showed  how  strongly 
this  point  had  told. 

He  argued  that  when  a  case  broke  down  at  its  very  outset,  it 
would  be  a  mere  trifling  with  the  time  of  the  court  to  go  further 
to  disprove  circumstances  based  on  a  fallacy.  As  to  the  christen- 
ing and  the  registration  of  baptism,  what  easier  than  for  a  woman 
to  declare  whatever  she  pleased  as  to  the  paternity  of  her  child  ? 
It  was  true  he  was  written  son  of  Montague  Bramleigh  :  but  when 
we  once  agree  that  there  was  no  marriage,  this  declaration  has  no 
value.  He  barely  touched  on  the  correspondence  and  the  trans- 
mission of  money  abroad,  which  he  explained  as  the  natural 
effort  of  a  man  of  high  station  and  character  to  suppress  the 
notoriety  of  a  youthful  indiscretion.  Political  animosity  had,  at 
that  period,  taken  a  most  injurious  turn,  and  scandal  was  ran- 
sacked  to  afford  means  of  attack  on  the  reputations  of  public 

men.  ,        t      -n         a 

I  barely  give  you  the  outline  of  his  argument,  but  I  will  send 


408  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

you  the  printed  account  of  the  trial  as  soon  as  the  shorthand 
writer  shall  have  completed  it  for  press.  Baron  Jocelyn's  charge 
was,  I  must  say,  less  in  our  favor  than  I  had  expected  ;  and  when 
he  told  the  jury  that  the  expressions  of  attachment  and  affection 
in  Mr.  B.'s  letters,  and  the  reiterated  use  of  the  phrase  "  my  dear, 
dear  wife,"  demanded  their  serious  consideration  as  to  whether 
such  words  would  have  fallen  from  a  man  hampered  by  an  illicit 
connection,  and  already  speculating  how  to  be  free  of  it ;  all  this, 
put  with  gTeat  force  and  clearness,  and  a  certain  appeal  to  their 
sense  of  humanity,  did  us  much  disservice.  The  length  of  time 
he  dwelt  on  this  part  of  the  case  was  so  remarkable,  that  I  over- 
heard a  Q.  C.  say  he  had  not  known  till  then  that  his  Lordship 
was  retained  for  the  plaintiff. 

When  he  came  to  that  part  where  allusion  was  made  to  the  fact 
of  the  claimant  being  a  foreigner,  he  made  an  eloquent  and 
effective  appeal  to  the  character  of  English  justice,  which  elicited 
a  burst  of  applause  in  the  court  that  took  some  seconds  to  repress ; 
but  this,  I  am  told,  was  more  owing  to  the  popular  sympathy 
with  the  politics  of  old  Lami,  and  his  connection  with  the 
rebellion  of  '98,  than  with  any  enthusiasm  for  his  Lordship's 
oratory. 

The  jury  were  three  hours  in  deliberation.  I  am  confidentially 
informed  that  we  had  but  five  with,  and  seven  against  us ;  the 
verdict,  as  you  know,  was  not  agreed  on.  We  shall  go  to  trial  in 
spring,  I  hope  with  Holmes  to  lead  for  us,  for  1  am  fully  per- 
suaded the  flaw  lies  in  the  history  subsequent  to  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  B.,  and  that  it  was  a  mistake  to  let  the  issue  turn  on  the 
event  which  had  already  enlisted  the  sympathies  of  the  jury  in 
its  favor. 

In  conclusion,  I  ought  to  say,  that  the  plaintiff's  friends  regard 
the  result  as  a  victory,  and  the  national  jjress  is  strong  in  assert- 
ing that,  if  the  Orange  element  had  been  eliminated  from  the 
jury-box,  there  is  little  doubt  that  Count  Bramleigh  — as  they 
cali  him  —  would  at  that  hour  be  dispensing  the  splendid  hos- 
pitalities of  a  princely  house  to  his  county  neighbors,  and  the  still 
more  gratifying  benefits  of  a  wide  charity  to  the  poor  around  him. 
Writing  rapidly,  as  I  do,  I  make  no  pretension  to  anything  like 
an  accurate  history  of  the  case.  There  are  a  vast  variety  of  things 
to  which  I  mean  to  direct  your  attention  when  a  more  favorable 
moment  will  permit.  I  will  only  now  add,  that  your  presence  in 
England  is  urgently  required,  and  that  your  return  to  Castelio,  to 
resume  there  the  style  of  living  that  alike  becomes  the  proprietor 
and  the  place,  is,  in  the  opinion  of  all  your  friends,  much  to  be 
desired. 

Mr.  Waller  does  not  hesitate  to  say  that  your  absence  decided 


"A  TELEGRAM."  409 

the  case  against  you,  and  was  heard  to  declare  openly  that  "  he 
for  one  had  no  fancy  to  defend  a  cause  for  a  man  who  voluntarily 
gave  himself  up  as  beaten." 

May  I  entreat,  then,  you  will  make  it  your  convenience  to  re- 
turn here?  I  cannot  exaggerate  the  ill  effects  of  your  absence, 
nor  to  what  extent  your  enemies  are  enabled  to  use  the  circum- 
stance to  your  discredit.  Jurors  are,  after  all,  but  men,  taken 
from  the  common  mass  of  those  who  read  and  talk  over  the  public 
scandals  of  the  hour,  and  all  the  cautions  of  the  Bench  never  yet 
succeeded  in  making  men  forget,  within  the  court-house,  what 
they  had  for  weeks  before  been  discussing  outside  of  it. 

At  all  events,  do  not  dismiss  my  suggestion  without  some 
thought  over  it,  or  better  still,  without  consulting  some  friends 
in  whose  sense  and  intelligence  you  have  confidence.  I  am,  with 
many  apologies  for  the  liberty  I  have  thus  taken, 

Most  faithfully  your  servant, 

T.  Sedley. 

When  Bramleigh  had  read  this  letter  carefully  over,  be 
proceeded  to  Nelly's  room,  to  let  her  hear  its  contents. 

"It 's  not  very  cheery  news,"  said  he,  "but  it  might  be 
worse.  Shall  I  read  it  for  you,  or  will  you  read  it  your- 
self?" 

"Read  it.  Gusty;  T  would  rather  hear  it  from  you,"  said 
she,  as  she  sat  down  with  her  face  to  the  window,  and 
partially  averted  from  him  as  he  sat. 

Not  a  word  dropped  from  her  while  he  read ;  and  though 
once  or  twice  he  paused  as  if  to  invite  a  remark  or  a  ques- 
tion, she  never  spoke,  nor  by  a  look  or  a  gesture  denoted 
how  the  tidings  affected  her. 

"Well,"  asked  he  at  last,  "what  do  you  say  to  it  all?  " 

"It's  worse  —  I  mean  worse  for  us  —  than  I  had  ever 
suspected!  Surely,  Gusty,  you  had  no  conception  that 
their  case  had  such  apparent  strength  and  solidity?" 

"I  have  thought  so  for  many  a  day,"  said  he,  gloomily. 

"Thought  that  they,  and  not  we  —  "  she  could  not  go  on. 

"Just  so,  dearest,"  said  he,  drawing  his  chair  to  her 
side,  and  laying  his  hand  affectionately  on  her  shoulder. 

"And  do  you  believe  that  poor  papa  thought  so?"  said 
she,  and  her  eyes  now  swam  in  tears. 

A  scarcely  perceptible  nod  was  all  his  answer. 

"Ob,   Gusty,  this   is  more  misery  than  I  was   prepared 


410  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

for!"  cried  she,  throwing  herself  on  his  shoulder.  "To 
think  that  all  the  time  we  were  —  what  many  called  — 
outraging  the  world  with  display;  exhibiting  our  wealth  in 
every  ostentatious  way ;  to  think  that  it  was  not  ours,  that 
we  were  mere  pretenders,  with  a  mock  rank,  a  mock 
station." 

"My  father  did  not  go  thus  far,  Nelly,"  said  he,  gravely. 
"That  he  did  not  despise  these  pretensions  I  firmly  believe; 
but  that  they  ever  gave  him  serious  reason  to  suppose  his 
right  could  be  successfully  disputed,  this  I  do  not  believe. 
His  fear  was,  that  when  the  claim  came  to  be  resisted  by 
one  like  myself,  the  battle  would  be  ill  fought.  It  was  in 
this  spirit  he  said,  'Would  that  Marion  had  been  a  boy! '  " 

"And  what  will  you  do.  Gusty?  " 

"I  '11  tell  you  what  I  will  not  do,  Nelly,"  said  he,  firmly. 
"I  will  not,  as  this  letter  counsels  me,  go  back  to  live  where 
it  is  possible  I  have  no  right  to  live,  nor  spend  money  to 
which  the  law  may  to-morrow  declare  I  have  no  claim.  I 
will  abide  by  what  that  law  shall  declare,  without  one  effort 
to  bias  it  in  my  favor.  I  have  a  higher  pride  in  submitting 
myself  to  this  trial  than  ever  I  had  in  being  the  owner  of 
Castello.  It  may  be  that  I  shall  not  prove  equal  to  what  I 
propose  to  myself.  I  have  no  over-confidence  in  my  own 
strength,  but  I  like  to  think,  that  if  I  come  well  through 
the  ordeal,  I  shall  have  done  what  will  dignify  a  life, 
humble  even  as  mine,  and  give  me  a  self-respect  without 
which  existence  is  valueless  to  me.  Will  you  stand  by  me, 
Nelly,  in  this  struggle  —  I  shall  need  you  much?" 

"To  the  last,"  said  she,  giving  him  both  her  hands, 
which  he  grasped  within  his,  and  pressed  affectionately. 

"  Write,  then,  one  line  from  me  to  Sedley,  to  say  that  I 
entrust  the  case  entirely  to  his  guidance;  that  I  will  not 
mix  myself  with  it  in  any  way,  nor  will  I  return  to  Eng- 
land till  it  be  decided ;  and  say,  if  you  can,  that  you  agree 
with  me  in  this  determination.  And  then,  if  the  L' Estranges 
are  ready,  let  us  start  at  once." 

"They  only  wait  for  us;  Julia  said  so  this  morning." 

"Then  we  shall  set  out  to-morrow." 


CHAPTER   XLIX. 

A     LONG    TfiTE-1-TETE. 

"Scant  courtesy,  I  must  say,"  exclaimed  Lady  Augusta,  as, 
after  rapidly  running  her  eyes  over  a  note,  she  flung  it 
across  the  table  towards  Pracontal. 

They  were  seated  tete-a-tete  in  that  small  drawing-room 
which  looked  out  upon  the  garden  and  the  grounds  of  the 
Borghese  Palace. 

"Am  I  to  read  it?  "  asked  he. 

"Yes,  if  you  like.  It  is  from  Augustus  Bramleigh,  a 
person  you  feel  some  interest  in." 

Pracontal  took  up  the  note,  and  seemed  to  go  very  care- 
fully over  its  contents. 

"So  then,"  said  he,  as  he  finished,  "he  thinks  it  better 
not  to  meet  —  not  to  know  me." 

"Which  is  no  reason  on  earth  for  being  wanting  in  a 
proper  attention  to  me,"  said  she,  angrily.  "To  leave 
Rome  without  calling  here,  without  consulting  my  wishes, 
and  learning  my  intentions  for  the  future,  is  a  gross  forget- 
fulness  of  proper  respect." 

"  I  take  it,  the  news  of  the  trial  was  too  much  for  him. 
Longworth  said  it  would,  and  that  the  comments  of  the 
press  would  be  insupportable  besides." 

"But  what  have  J  to  do  with  that,  sir?  Mr.  Bramleigh's 
first  duty  was  to  come  here.  /  should  have  been  thought 
of.  1  was  the  first  person  this  family  should  have  remem- 
bered in  their  hour  of  difficulty." 

"There  was  no  intentional  want  of  respect  in  it,  I'll  be 
bound,"  cried  Pracontal.  "It  was  just  a  bashful  man's 
dread  of  an  awkward  moment  —  that  English  terror  of  what 
you  call  a  'scene  '  —  that  sent  him  off." 


412  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOPS  FOLLY. 

"It  is  generous  of  you,  sir,  to  beconie  his  apologist.  I 
only  wonder  —  "    Here  she  stopped  and  seemed  confused. 

"Go  on,  my  Lady.     Pray  finish  what  you  began." 

"No,  sir.     It  is  as  well  unsaid." 

"But  it  was  understood,  my  Lady,  just  as  well  as  if  it 
had  been  uttered.  Your  Ladyship  wondered  who  was  to 
apologize  for  me." 

She  grew  crimson  as  he  spoke;  but  a  faint  smile  seemed 
to  say  how  thoroughly  she  relished  that  southern  keenness 
that  could  divine  a  half-uttered  thought. 

"  How  quick  you  are ! "  said  she,  without  a  trace  of 
irritation. 

"  Say,  rather,  how  quick  he  ought  to  be  who  attempts  to 
parry  you  at  fence.  And,  after  all,"  said  he,  in  a  lighter 
tone,  "is  it  not  as  well  that  he  has  spared  us  all  an  embar- 
rassment? 1  could  not  surely  have  been  able  to  condole 
with  him,  and  how  could  he  have  congratulated  me  ?  " 

"  Pardon  me,  Count,  but  the  matter,  so  far  as  I  learn,  is 
precisely  as  it  was  before.  There  is  neither  subject  for 
condolence  nor  gratulation." 

"  So  far  as  the  verdict  of  the  jury  went,  my  Lady,  you 
are  quite  right ;  but  what  do  you  say  to  that  larger,  wider 
verdict  pronounced  by  the  press,  and  repeated  in  a  thousand 
forms  by  the  public?  May  I  read  you  one  passage,  only 
one,  from  my  lawyer  Mr.  Kelson's  letter?" 

"Is  it  short?" 

"Very  short." 

"And  intelligible?" 

"Most  intelligible." 

"Read  it,  then." 

"Here  it  is,"  said  he,  opening  a  letter,  and  turning  to 
the  last  page.  "'Were  I  to  sum  up  what  is  the  popular 
opinion  of  the  result,  I  could  not  do  it  better  than  repeat 
what  a  City  capitalist  said  to  me  this  morning:  "  I  'd  rather 
lend  Count  Pracontal  twenty  thousand  pounds  to-day,  than 
take  Mr.  Bramleigh's  mortgage  for  ten."  '  " 

"Let  me  read  that.  I  shall  comprehend  his  meaning 
better  than  by  hearing  it.  This  means  evidently,"  said 
she,  after  reading  the  passage,  "that  your  chances  are 
better  than  his." 


A  LONG   TETE-A-TETE.  413 

"Kelson  tells  me  success  is  certain." 

"And  your  cautious  friend    Mr.  ;  I  always  forget 

that  man's  name?" 

"Long-worth?" 

"Yes,  Longworth.     What  does  he  say  ?  " 

"  He  is  already  in  treaty  with  me  to  let  him  have  a  small 
farm  which  adjoins  his  grounds,  and  which  he  would  like 
to  throw  into  his  lawn." 

"Seriously?" 

"No,  not  a. bit  seriously;  but  we  pass  the  whole  morn- 
ing building  these  sort  of  castles  in  Spain,  and  the  grave 
way  that  he  entertains  such  projects  ends  by  making  me 
believe  I  am  actually  the  owner  of  Castello  and  all  its 
belongings." 

"Tell  me  some  of  your  plans,"  said  she,  with  a  livelier 
interest  than  she  had  yet  shown. 

"  First  of  all,  reconciliation,  if  that  be  its  proper  name, 
wdth  all  that  calls  itself  Bramleigh.  I  don't  want  to  be 
deemed  a  usurper,  but  a  legitimate  monarch.  It  is  to  be 
a  restoration." 

"  Then  you  ought  to  marry  Nelly.  I  declare,  that  never 
struck  me  before." 

"Nor  has  it  yet  occurred  to  me,  my  Lady,"  said  he,  with 
a  faint  show  of  irritation. 

"And  why  not,  sir?     Is  it  that  you  look  higher?  " 

"I  look  higher,"  said  he;  and  there  was  a  solemn  in- 
tensity in  his  air  and  manner  as  he  spoke. 

"  I  declare,  Monsieur  de  Pracontal,  it  is  scarcely  delicate 
to  say  this  to  me." 

"  Your  Ladyship  insists  on  my  being  candid,  even  at  the 
hazard  of  my  courtesy." 

"1  do  not  complain  of  your  candor,  sir.  It  is  your  — 
your  —  " 

"My  pretension?  " 

"Well,  yes,  pretension  will  do." 

"  Well,  my  Lady,  I  will  not  quarrel  with  the  phrase.  I 
do  'pretend,'  as  we  say  in  French.  In  fact,  I  have  been 
little  other  than  a  pretender  these  last  few  years." 

"And  what  is  it  you  pretend  to?  May  I  ask  the  ques- 
tion ?  " 


414  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

''I  do  not  know  if  I  may  dare  to  answer  it,"  said  he, 
slowly.  ...  "I  will  explain  what  I  mean,"  added  he,  after 
a  brief  silence,  and  drawing  his  chair  somewhat  nearer  to 
where  she  sat.  "  I  will  explain.  If,  in  one  of  my  imagi- 
native gossipries  with  a  friend,  I  were  to  put  forward  some 
claim  —  some  ambition  —  which  would  sound  absurd  com- 
ing from  me  now^  but  which,  were  I  the  owner  of  a  great 
estate,  would  neither  be  extravagant  nor  ridiculous,  the 
memory  of  that  unlucky  pretension  would  live  against  me 
ever  after,  and  the  laugh  that  my  vanity  excited  would  ring 
in  my  ears  long  after  I  had  ceased  to  regard  the  sentiment 
as  vanity  at  all.     Do  you  follow  me?" 

"Yes,  I  believe  I  do.  I  would  only  have  you  remember 
that  I  am  not  Mr.  Longworth." 

"A  reason  the  more  for  my  caution." 

"  Could  n't  we  converse  without  riddles.  Count  Pracontal  ?  " 

"I  protest,  I  should  like  to  do  so." 

"And  as  I  make  no  objection  —  " 

•'Then  to  begin.  You  asked  me  what  I  should  do  if  I 
were  to  gain  my  suit;  and  my  answer  is,  if  I  were  not 
morally  certain  to  gain  it,  I  'd  never  exhibit  myself  in  the 
absurd  position  of  planning  a  life  I  was  never  to  arrive  at." 

"You  are  too  much  a  Frenchman  for  that." 

"Precisely,  madame.  I  am  too  much  a  Frenchman  for 
that.  The  exquisite  sensibility  to  ridicule  puts  a  very  fine 
edge  on  national  character,  though  your  countrymen  will 
not  admit  it." 

"It  makes  very  tetchy  acquaintances,"  said  she,  with  a 
malicious  laugh. 

"And  develops  charming  generosity  in  those  who  forgive 
us!" 

"I  cry  off.  I  can't  keep  up  this  game  of  give  and  take 
flatteries.  Let  us  come  back  to  what  we  were  talking  of,  — 
that  is,  if  either  of  us  can  remember  it.  Oh,  yes,  I  know 
it  now.  You  were  going  to  tell  me  the  splendid  establish- 
ment you  'd  keep  at  Castello.  I  'm  sure  the  cook  will  leave 
nothing  to  desire,  —  but  how  about  the  stable?  That 
'steppere'  will  not  exactly  be  in  his  place  in  an  Irish 
county." 

"Madame,  you  forget  I  was  a  lieutenant  of  hussars." 


A  LONG  TETE-A-TETE.  415 

*'My  dear  Count,  that  does  not  mean  riding." 

"  Madame !  " 

''I  should  now  rise  and  say  'Monsieur! '  and  it  would  be 
very  good  comedy  after  the  French  pattern;  but  1  prefer 
the  sofa  and  my  ease,  and  will  simply  beg  you  to  remember 
the  contract  we  made  the  other  day,  —  that  each  was  to  be 
at  liberty  to  say  any  impertinence  to  the  other,  without 
offence  being  taken." 

Pracontal  laid  his  hand  on  his  heart,  and  bowed  low  and 
deep. 

"There  are  some  half  a  dozen  people  in  that  garden 
yonder,  who  have  passed  and  repassed  —  I  can't  tell  how 
many  times  — just  to  observe  us.  You'll  see  them  again 
in  a  few  minutes,  and  we  shall  be  town-talk  to-morrow, 
I  'm  certain.  There  are  no  tete-a-tetes  ever  permitted  in 
Rome  if  a  cardinal  or  a  monsignore  be  not  one  of  the 
performers." 

"Are  those  they?"  cried  he,  suddenly. 

"Yes,  and  there's  not  the  least  occasion  for  that  flash  of 
the  eye  and  that  hot  glow  of  indignation  on  the  cheek.  I 
assure  you,  monsieur,  there  is  nobody  there  to  coujjer  la 
gorge  with  you,  or  share  in  any  of  those  social  pleasantries 
which  make  the  'Bois '  famous.  The  curiously  minded 
individual  is  a  lad}^  —  a  Mrs.  Trumpler,  —  and  her  attend- 
ants are  a  few  freshly  arrived  curates.  There,  now,  sit 
down  again,  and  look  less  like  a  wounded  tiger;  for  all 
this  sort  of  thing  fusses  and  fevers  me.  Yes,  you  may  fan 
me ;  though  if  the  detectives  return  it  will  make  the  report 
more  highly  colored.'* 

Pracontal  was  now  seated  on  a  low  stool  beside  her  sofa, 
and  fanning  her  assiduously. 

"Not  but  these  people  are  all  right,"  continued  she.  "It 
is  quite  wrong  in  me  to  admit  you  to  my  intimacy  —  wrong 
to  admit  you  at  all.  My  sister  is  so  angry  about  it  she 
won't  come  here  —  fact,  I  assure  you.  Now  don't  look  so 
delighted  and  so  triumphant,  and  the  rest  of  it.  As  your 
nice  little  phrase  has  it,  you  'are  for  nothing '  in  the  matter 
at  all.  It  is  all  myself,  my  own  whim,  my  fancy,  my 
caprice.  1  saw  that  the  step  was  just  as  unadvisable  as 
they  said  it  was.     I  saw  that  any  commonly  discreet  per- 


416  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

son  would  not  have  even  made  your  acquaintance,  standing 
as  I  did;  but  unfortunately  for  me,  like  poor  Eve,  the  only 
tree  whose  fruit  1  covet  is  the  one  I  'm  told  is  n't  good  for 
me.  There  go  our  friends  once  more.  1  wish  I  could  tell 
her  who  you  are,  and  not  keep  her  in  this  state  of  torturing 
anxiety." 

"Might  I  ask,  my  Lady,"  said  he,  gravely,  "if  you  have 
heard  anything  to  my  discredit  or  disparagement,  as  a  rea- 
son for  the  severe  sentence  you  have  just  spoken?" 

''No,  unfortunately  not;  for  in  that  case  my  relatives 
would  have  forgiven  me.  They  know  the  wonderful  in- 
fatuation that  attracts  me  to  damaged  reputations,  and  as 
they  have  not  yet  found  out  any  considerable  flaw  in  yours, 
they  are  puzzled,  out  of  all  measure,  to  know  what  it  is  I 
see  in  you." 

"I  am  overwhelmed  by  your  flattery,  madam,"  said  he, 
trying  to  seem  amused;  but,  in  spite  of  himself,  showing 
some  irritation. 

"Not  that,"  resumed  she,  in  that  quiet  manner  which 
showed  that  her  mind  had  gone  off  suddenly  in  another 
direction,  —  "  not  that  I  owe  much  deference  to  the  Bram- 
leighs,  who,  one  and  all,  have  treated  me  with  little 
courtesy.  Marion  behaved  shamefully;  that,  of  course, 
was  to  be  expected.  To  marry  that  odious  old  creature  for 
a  position  implied  how  she  w^ould  abuse  the  position  when 
she  got  it.  As  I  said  to  Gusty,  when  a  young  Oxford  man 
gives  five  guineas  for  a  mount,  he  does  n't  think  he  has  the 
worth  of  his  money  if  he  does  n't  smash  his  collar-bone. 
There,  put  down  that  fan;  you  are  making  me  feverish. 
Then  the  absurdity  of  playing />ee?Tss  to  me  !  How  ashamed 
the  poor  old  man  was ;  he  reddened  through  all  his  rouge. 
Do  you  know,"  added  she,  in  an  excited  manner,  "that  she 
had  the  impertinence  to  compare  her  marriage  with  mine, 
and  say  that  at  least  rank  and  title  were  somewhat  nobler 
ambitions  than  a  mere  subsistence  and  a  settlement.  But 
I  answered  her.  I  told  her,  'You  have  forgotten  one  mate- 
rial circumstance.  I  did  not  live  with  your  father!  *  Oh, 
yes!  we  exchanged  a  number  of  little  courtesies  of  this 
kind,  and  I  was  so  sorry  when  I  heard  she  had  gone  to 
Naples.     I  was  only  getting  into  stride  when  the  race  was 


A  LONG   TETE-A-TETE.  41 T 

over.  As  to  my  settlement,  I  have  not  the  very  vaguest 
notion  who'll  pay  it;  perhaps  it  may  be  you.  Oh,  of 
course  I  know  the  unutterable  bliss;  but  you  must  really 
ask  your  lawyer,  how  is  my  lien  to  be  disposed  of.  Some 
one  said  to  me  the  other  day  that,  besides  the  estate,  you 
would  have  a  claim  for  about  eighty  thousand  pounds." 

"It  was  Longworth  said  so." 

"I  don't  like  your  friend  Longworth.  Is  he  a  gentle- 
man?" 

"Most  unquestionably." 

''Well,  but  I  mean  a  born  gentleman?  I  detest,  and  I 
distrust  your  nature-made  gentlemen,  who,  having  money 
enough  to  'get  up '  the  part,  deem  that  quite  sufficient.  I 
want  the  people  whose  families  have  given  guarantees  for 
character  during  some  generations.  Six  o'clock!  only 
think,  you  are  here  three  mortal  hours!  I  declare,  sir,  this 
must  not  occur  again ;  and  I  have  to  dress  now.  I  dine  at 
the  Prince  Cornarini's.     Do  you  go  there?" 

"I  go  nowhere,  my  Lady.     I  know  no  one." 

"  Well,  1  can't  present  you.  It  would  be  too  compromis- 
ing. And  yet  they  want  men  like  you,  very  much,  here. 
The  Romans  are  so  dull  and  stately,  and  the  English  who 
frequent  the  best  houses  are  so  dreary.  There,  go  away 
now.  You  want  leave  to  come  to-morrow,  but  I  '11  not 
grant  it.  I  must  hear  what  Mrs.  Trumpler  says  before 
I  admit  you  again." 

"  When,  then,  may  I  —  " 

"I  don't  know;  I  have  not  thought  of  it.  Let  it  be  — 
let  it  be  when  you  have  gained  your  lawsuit,"  cried  she,  in 
a  burst  of  laughter,  and  hurried  out  of  the  room. 


27 


CHAPTER   L. 

CATTARO. 

If  Cattaro  was  more  picturesque  and  strange-looking  than 
the  Bramleighs  had  expected,  it  was  also  far  more  poverty- 
stricken  and  desolate.  The  little  town,  escarped  out  of  a 
lofty  mountain,  with  the  sea  in  front,  consisted  of  little 
more  than  one  straggling  street,  which  followed  every  bend 
and  indentation  of  the  shore.  It  is  true,  wherever  a  little 
plateau  offered  on  the  mountain,  a  house  was  built;  and  to 
these  small  winding  paths  led  up,  through  rocks  bristling 
with  the  cactus,  or  shaded  by  oleanders  large  as  olive-trees. 
Beautiful  little  bits  of  old  Venetian  architecture,  in  bal- 
conies or  porticos,  peeped  out  here  and  there  through  the 
dark  foliage  of  oranges  and  figs;  and  richly  ornamented 
gates,  whose  arabesques  yet  glistened  with  tarnished  gild- 
ing, were  festooned  with  many  a  flowery  creeper,  and  that 
small  bauksia-rose,  so  tasteful  in  its  luxuriance.  From  the 
sea  it  would  be  impossible  to  imagine  anything  more  beau- 
tiful or  more  romantic.  As  you  landed,  however,  the 
illusion  faded,  and  dirt,  misery,  and  want  stared  at  you  at 
every  step.  Decay  and  ruin  were  on  all  sides.  Palaces, 
whose  marble  mouldings  and  architraves  were  in  the  richest 
style  of  Byzantine  art,  were  propped  up  by  rude  beams  of 
timber  that  obstructed  the  footway,  while  from  their  win- 
dows and  balconies  hung  rags  and  tattered  draperies,  the 
signs  of  a  poverty  within  great  as  the  ruin  without.  The 
streets  were  lined  with  a  famished,  half-clothed  population, 
sitting  idly  or  sleeping.  A  few  here  and  there  affected  to 
be  vendors  of  fruit  and  vegetables;  but  the  mass  were 
simply  loungers  reduced  to  the  miserable  condition  of  an 
apathy  which  saw  nothing  better  to  be  done  with  life  than 
dream   it    away.     Vrhile  Bramleigh  and    L'Estrange    were 


CATTARO.  419 

full  of  bon-or  at  the  wretchedness  of  the  place,  their  sisters 
were  almost  wild  with  delight  at  its  barbaric  beauty,  its 
grand  savagery,  and  its  brilliantly  picturesque  character. 
The  little  inn,  which  probably  for  years  had  dispensed  no 
other  hospitalities  than  those  of  the  c«/e,  that  extended 
from  the  darkly  columned  portico  to  half  across  the  piazza, 
certainly  contributed  slightly  to  allay  the  grumblings  of  the 
travellers.  The  poorly  furnished  rooms  were  ill  kept  and 
dirty,  the  servants  lazy,  and  the  fare  itself  the  very  hum- 
blest imaginable. 

Nothing  short  of  the  unfailing  good  temper  and  good 
spirits  of  Julia  and  Nelly  could  have  rallied  the  men  out  of 
their  sulky  discontent;  that  spirit  to  make  the  best  of 
everything,  to  catch  at  every  passing  gleam  of  sunlight  on 
the  landscape,  and  even  in  moments  of  discouragement  to 
rally  at  the  first  chance  of  what  may  cheer  and  gladden,  — 
this  is  womanly,  essentially  womanly.  It  belongs  not  to 
the  man's  nature;  and  even  if  he  should  have  it,  he  has  it 
in  a  less  discriminative  shape  and  in  a  coarser  fashion. 

While  Augustus  and  L'Estrange  then  sat  sulkily  smoking 
their  cigars  on  the  sea-wall,  contemptuously  turning  their 
backs  on  the  mountain  variegated  with  every  hue  of  foliage, 
and  broken  in  every  picturesque  form,  the  girls  had  found 
out  a  beautiful  old  villa,  almost  buried  in  orange-trees  in  a 
small  cleft  of  the  mountain,  through  which  a  small  cascade 
descended  and  fed  a  fountain  that  played  in  the  hall ;  the 
perfect  stillness,  only  broken  by  the  splash  of  the  falling 
water,  and  the  sense  of  delicious  freshness  imparted  by  the 
crystal  circles  eddying  across  the  marble  fount,  so  delighted 
them  that  they  were  in  ecstasies  when  they  found  that  the 
place  was  to  be  let,  and  might  be  their  own  for  a  sum  less 
than  a  very  modest  "  entresol  "  would  cost  in  a  cognate 
city. 

"  Just  imagine.  Gusty,  he  will  let  it  to  us  for  three  hun- 
dred florins  a  year;  and  for  eighteen  hundred  we  may  buy 
it  out  and  out,  forever."  This  was  Nelly's  salutation  as 
she  came  back,  full  of  all  she  had  seen,  and  glowing  with 
enthusiasm  over  the  splendid  luxuriance  of  the  vegetation 
and  the  beauty  of  the  view. 

"It  is  really  princely  inside,  although  in  terrible  dilapi- 


420  THE   BKAMLEIGIIS   OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

dation  and  ruin.  There  are  over  two  of  the  fireplaces  the 
Doge's  arms,  which  show^s  that  a  Venetian  magnate  once 
lived  there." 

"What  do  you  say,  George?"  cried  Bramleigh.  "Don't 
you  think  you  'd  rather  invest  some  hundred  florins  in  a 
boat  to  escape  from  this  dreary  hole  than  purchase  a  prison 
to  live  in?" 

"You  must  come  and  see  the  'Fontanella  '  —  so  they  call 
it  —  before  you  decide,'*  said  Julia.  "Meanwhile  here  is 
a  rough  sketch  I  made  from  the  garden  side." 

''Come,  that  looks  very  pretty,  indeed,"  cried  George. 
"Do  you  mean  to  say  it  is  like  that?" 

"  That 's  downright  beautiful !  "  said  Bramleigh.  "  Surely 
these  are  not  marble,  —  these  columns !  " 

"It  is  all  marble,  — the  terrace,  the  balconies,  the  stairs, 
the  door-frames ;  and  as  to  the  floors,  they  are  laid  down  in 
variegated  slabs,  with  a  marvellous  instinct  as  to  color  and 
effect.  I  declare  I  think  it  handsomer  than  Castello,"  cried 
Nelly. 

"Haven't  I  often  said,"  exclaimed  Bramleigh,  "there 
w^as  nothing  like  being  ruined  to  impart  a  fresh  zest  to 
existence?  You  seem  to  start  anew  in  the  race,  and  un- 
weighted, too." 

"As  George  and  I  have  always  been  in  the  condition  you 
speak  of,"  said  Julia,  "this  charm  of  novelty  is  lost  to  us." 

"Let  us  put  it  to  the  vote,"  said  Nelly,  eagerly.  "Shall 
we  buy  it  ?  " 

"First  of  all,  let  us  see  it,"  interposed  Bramleigh.  "To- 
day I  have  to  make  my  visit  to  the  authorities.  I  have  to 
present  myself  before  the  great  officials,  and  announce  that 
I  have  come  to  be  the  representative  of  the  last  joint  of  the 
British  lion's  tail;  but  that  he,  being  a  great  beast  of  won- 
derful strength  and  terrific  courage,  to  touch  a  hair  of  him 
is  temerity  itself." 

"And  they  will  believe  you?"  asked  Julia. 

"Of  course,  they  will.  It  would  be  very  hard  that  we 
should  not  survive  in  the  memories  of  people  who  live  in 
lonely  spots,  and  read  no  newspapers." 

"Such  a  place  for  vegetation  I  never  saw,"  cried  Nelly. 
"There  are  no  glass  windows  in  the  hall,  but  through  the 


CATTARO.  421 

ornamental  ironwork  the  oranges  and  limes  pierce  through 
and  hang  in  great  clusters;  the  whole  covered  with  the 
crimson  acanthus  and  the  blue  japonica,  till  the  very  bril- 
liancy of  color  actually  dazzles  you." 

"AYe'll  write  a  great  book  up  there,  George,  — 'Cattaro 
under  the  Doges:  '  or  shall  it  be  a  romance?  "  said  Bram- 
leigh. 

"I'm  for  a  diary,"  said  Julia,  "where  each  of  us  shall 
contribute  his  share  of  life  among  the  wild-olives." 

"Ju's  right,"  cried  Nelly;  "and  as  I  have  no  gift  of 
authorship,  I'll  be  the  public." 

"No,  you  shall  be  the  editor,  dearest,"  said  Julia.  "He 
is  always  like  the  Speaker  in  the  House,  —  the  person  who 
does  the  least,  and  endures  the  most." 

"All  this  does  not  lead  us  to  any  decision,"  said  L'Es- 
trange.  "Shall  I  go  up  there  all  alone,  and  report  to  you 
this  evening  what  I  see  and  what  I  think  of  the  place  ?  " 

This  proposal  was  at  once  acceded  to;  and  now  they 
went  their  several  ways,  not  to  meet  again  till  a  late  dinner. 

"  How  nobly  and  manfully  your  brother  bears  up !  "  said 
Julia,  as  she  walked  back  to  the  inn  with  Nelly. 

"And  there  is  no  display  in  it,"  said  Nelly,  warmly. 
"Now  that  he  is  beyond  the  reach  of  condolence  and  com- 
passion, he  fears  nothing.  And  you  will  see  that  when 
the  blow  falls,  as  he  says  it  must,  he  will  not  wince  nor 
shrink." 

"  If  I  had  been  a  man  I  should  like  to  have  been  of  that 
mould." 

"And  it  is  exactly  what  you  would  have  been,  dear  Julia. 
Gusty  said,  only  yesterday,  that  you  had  more  courage  than 
us  all."  " 

When  L' Estrange  returned,  he  came  accompanied  by  an 
old  man  in  very  tattered  clothes,  and  the  worst  possible 
hat,  whose  linen  was  far  from  spotless,  as  were  his  hands 
innocent  of  soap.  He  was,  however,  the  owner  of  the 
villa,  and  a  Count  of  the  great  family  of  Kreptowicz.  If 
his  ajDpearance  was  not  much  in  his  favor,  his  manners 
were  those  of  a  well-bred  person,  and  his  language  that  of 
education.  He  was  eager  to  part  with  this  villa,  as  he 
desired  to  go  and  live  with  a  married  daughter  at  Ragusa ; 


422  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

and  he  protested  that,  at  the  price  he  asked,  it  was  not  a 
sale,  but  a  present;  that  to  any  other  than  Englishmen  he 
never  would  part  with  a  property  that  had  been  six  hundred 
years  in  the  family,  and  which  contained  the  bones  of  his 
distinguished  ancestors,  of  which,  incidentally,  he  threw  in 
small  historic  details ;  and,  last  of  all,  he  avowed  that  he 
desired  to  confide  the    small  chapel  where    these   precious 
remains  w^ere  deposited  to  the  care  of  men  of  station  and 
character.     This  chapel  was  only  used  once  a  year,  when  a 
mass  for  the  dead  was  celebrated,  so  that  the  Count  insisted 
no  inconvenience  could  be  incurred  by  the  tenant.     Indeed, 
he  half  hinted   that,   if  that  one   annual  celebration  were 
objected  to,  his  ancestors  might  be  prayed  for  elsewhere, 
or  even  rest  satisfied  with  the  long  course  of  devotion  to 
their  interests  which  had  been  maintained  up  to  the  present 
time.     As  for  the  chapel  itself,  he  described  it  as  a  gem 
that  even  Venice  could  not  rival.     There  w^ere  frescos  of 
marvellous  beauty,  and  some  carvings  in  wood  and  ivory 
that  were  priceless.     Some  years  back  he  had  employed  a 
great  artist  to  restore  some  of  the  paintings,  and  supply  the 
place  of  others  that  were  beyond  restoration;  and  now  it 
was  in  a  state  of  perfect  condition,  as  he  would  be  proud 
to  show  them. 

"You  are  aware  that  we  are  heretics,  monsieur?"  said 
Julia. 

''We  are  all  sons  of  Adam,  mademoiselle,"  said  he,  with 
a  polite  bow;  and  it  was  clear  that  he  could  postpone 
spiritual  questions  to  such  time  as  temporal  matters  might 
be  fully  completed. 

As  the  chapel  was  fully  twenty  minutes'  walk  from  the 
villa,  and  much  higher  on  the  mountain  side,  had  it  even 
been  frequented  by  the  country  people  it  could  not  have 
been  any  cause  of  inconvenience  to  the  occupants  of  the 
villa;  and  this  matter  being  settled,  and  some  small  condi- 
tions as  to  surrender  being  agreed  to,  Bramleigh  engaged 
to  take  it  for  three  years,  with  a  power  to  purchase  if  he 
desired  it. 

Long  after  the  contract  was  signed  and  completed,  the  old 
Count  continued,  in  a  half-complaining  tone,  to  dwell  on 
the  great  sacrifice  he  had  made,  what  sums  of  money  were 


CATTARO.  423 

to  be  made  of  the  lemons  and  oranges,  how  the  figs  were 
celebrated  even  at  Ragusa,  and  Fontanella  melons  had 
actually  brought  ten  kreutzers  —  three-halfpence  —  apiece 
in  the  market  at  Zara. 

"Who  is  it,"  cried  Julia,  as  the  old  man  took  his  leave, 
"who  said  that  the  old  mercantile  spirit  never  died  out  in 
the  great  Venetian  families,  and  that  the  descendants  of 
the  doges,  with  all  their  pride  of  blood  and  race,  were 
dealers  and  traders  whenever  an  occasion  of  gain  presented 
itself?" 

"Our  old  friend  there  has  not  belied  the  theory,"  said 
Bramleigh;  "but  I  am  right  glad  that  we  have  secured 
La  Fontanella." 


CHAPTER   LI. 

SOME    NEWS    FROM    WITHOUT. 

There  is  a  sad  significance  in  the  fact  that  the  happiest 
days  of  our  lives  are  those  most  difficult  to  chronicle ;  it  is 
as  though  the  very  essence  of  enjoyment  was  its  uneventful 
nature.  Thus  was  it  that  the  little  household  at  the  Fon- 
tanella  felt  their  present  existence.  Its  simple  pleasures, 
its  peacefulness  never  palled  upon  them.  There  was  that 
amount  of  general  similarity  in  tastes  amongst  them  that 
secures  concord,  and  that  variety  of  disposition  and  tem- 
perament which  promotes  and  sustains  interest. 

Julia  was  the  life  of  all;  for,  though  seeming  to  devote 
herself  to  the  cares  of  housethrift  and  management,  and  in 
reality  carrying  on  all  the  details  of  management,  it  was 
she  who  gave  to  their  daily  life  its  color  and  flavor,  she 
who  suggested  occupations  and  interest  to  each;  and  while 
Augustus  was  charged  to  devote  his  gun  and  his  rod  to  the 
replenishment  of  the  larder,  George  was  converted  into  a 
gardener;  all  the  decorative  department  of  the  household 
being  confided  to  Nelly,  who  made  the  bouquets  for  the 
breakfast  and  dinner  tables,  arranged  the  fruit  in  artistic 
fashion,  and  was  supreme  in  exacting  dinner-dress  and  the 
due  observance  of  all  proper  etiquette.  Julia  was  inflexible 
on  this  point;  for,  as  she  said,  "though  people  laugh  at 
deposed  princes  for  their  persistence  in  maintaining  a  cer- 
tain state  and  a  certain  pageantry  in  their  exile,  without 
these,  what  becomes  of  their  prestige,  and  what  becomes  of 
themselves?  they  merge  into  a  new  existence,  and  lose  their 
very  identity.  We,  too,  may  be  '  restored '  one  of  these 
days,  and  let  it  be  our  care  not  to  have  forgotten  the  habits 
of  our  station."  There  was  in  this,  as  in  most  she  said,  a 
semi-seriousness    that   made  one   doubt  when    she  was   in 


SOME  NEWS  FROM  WITHOUT.  425 

earnest;  and  this  half-quizzing  manner  enabled  her  to  carry 
out  her  will  and  bear  down  opposition  in  many  cases  where 
a  sterner  logic  would  have  failed  her. 

Her  greatest  art  of  all,  however,  was  to  induce  the  others 
to  believe  that  the  chief  charm  of  their  present  existence 
was  its  isolation.  She  well  knew  that  while  she  herself  and 
Nelly  would  never  complain  of  the  loneliness  of  their  lives, 
their  estrangement  from  the  world  and  all  its  pursuits,  its 
pleasures  and  its  interests,  the  young  men  would  soon  dis- 
cover what  monotony  marked  their  days,  how  uneventful 
they  were,  and  how  uniform.  To  convert  all  these  into 
merits,  to  make  them  believe  that  this  immunity  from  the 
passing  accidents  of  life  was  the  greatest  of  blessings,  to 
induce  them  to  regard  the  peace  in  which  they  lived  as  the 
highest  charm  that  could  adorn  existence,  and  at  the  same 
time  not  suffer  them  to  lapse  into  dreamy  inactivity  or 
lethargic  indifference,  was  a  great  trial  of  skill,  and  it  was 
hers  to  achieve  it.  As  she  said,  not  without  a  touch  of 
vainglory,  one  day  to  Nelly,  ''How  intensely  eager  I  have 
made  them  about  small  things.  Your  brother  was  up  at 
daylight  to  finish  his  rock-work  for  the  creepers,  and 
George  felled  that  tree  for  the  keel  of  his  new  boat  before 
breakfast.  Think  of  that,  Nelly;  and  neither  of  them  as 
much  as  asked  if  the  post  had  brought  them  letters  and 
newspapers.  Don't  laugh,  dearest.  When  men  forget  the 
post-hour,  there  is  something  wonderfully  good  or  bad  has 
befallen  them." 

"But  it  is  strange,  after  all,  Ju,  how  little  we  have  come 
to  care  for  the  outer  world.  I  protest  I  am  glad  to  think 
that  there  are  only  two  mails  a  week,  —a  thing  that  when 
we  came  here,  I  would  have  pronounced  unendurable." 

"To  George  and  myself  it  matters  little,"  said  Julia; 
and  her  tone  had  a  touch  of  sadness  in  it,  in  spite  of  her 
attempt  to  smile.  "It  would  not  be  easy  to  find  two  people 
whom  the  world  can  live  without  at  so  little  cost.  There 
is  something  in  that,  Nelly;  though  I  'm  not  sure  that  it  is 
all  gain." 

"Well,  you  have  your  recompense,  Julia,"  said  the  other, 
affectionately;  "for  there  is  a  little  'world'  here  could  not 
exist  without  you." 


426  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

''Two  hares,  and  something  like  a  black  cock  —  they  call 
it  a  caper,  here,"  cried  Augustu's,  from  beneath  the  win- 
dow. "Come  down,  and  let  us  have  breakfast  on  the  ter- 
race. By  the  way,  I  have  just  got  a  letter  in  Cutbill's 
hand.  It  has  been  a  fortnight  in  coming,  but  I  only 
glanced  at  the  date  of  it." 

As  they  gathered  around  the  breakfast-table  they  were 
far  more  eager  to  learn  what  had  been  done  in  the  garden, 
and  what  progress  was  being  made  with  the  fish-pond,  than 
to  hear  Mr.  Cutbill's  news;  and  his  letter  lay  open  till 
nigh  the  end  of  the  meal,  on  the  table,  before  any  one 
thought  of   it. 

"Who  wants  to  read  Cutbill?"  said  Augustus,  indolently. 

"Not  I,  Gusty,  if  he  writes  as  he  talks." 

"Do  you  know,  I  thought  him  very  pleasant?"  said 
L' Estrange.  "He  told  me  so  much  that  I  had  never  heard 
of,  and  made  such  acute  remarks  on  life  and  people." 

"Poor  dear  George  was  so  flattered  by  Mr.  Cutbill's 
praise  of  his  boiled  mutton,  that  he  took  quite  a  liking  to 
the  man;  and  when  he  declared  that  some  poor  little  wine 
we  gave  him  had  a  flavor  of  'muscat'  about  it,  like  old 
Moselle,  I  really  believe  he  might  have  borrowed  money  of 
us  if  he  had  wanted,  and  if  we  had  had  any." 

"I  wish  you  would  read  him  aloud,  Julia,"  said  Augustus. 

"With  all  my  heart,"  said  she,  turning  over  the  letter  to 
see  its  length.  "It  does  seem  a  long  document,  but  it  is  a 
marvel  of"^  clear  writing.  Now  for  it-  'Naples,  Hotel 
Victoria.  My  dear  Bramleigh.'  Of  course  you  are  his 
dear-  Bramleigh?  Lucky,  after  all,  that  it  's  not  dear 
Gusty." 

"That's  exactly  what  makes  everything  about  that  man 
intolerable  to  me,"  said  Nelly.  "The  degree  of  intimacy 
between  people  is  not  to  be  measured  by  the  inferior." 

"I  will  have  no  discussions,  no  interruptions,"  said 
Julia.  "If  there  are  to  be  comments,  they  must  be  made 
by  me." 

"That's  tyranny,  I  think,"  cried  Nelly. 

"I  call  it  more  than  arrogance,"  said  Augustus. 

"My  dear  Bramleigh,"  continued  Julia,  reading  aloud, 
"I  followed  the  old  Viscount  down  here,  not  in  the  best  of 


SOME   NEWS  FROM   WITHOUT.  427 

tempers,  I  assure  you;  and  though  not  easily  outwitted  or 
baffled  in  such  matters,  it  was  not  till  after  a  week  that  I 
succeeded  in  getting  an  audience.  There  's  no  denying  it, 
he  's  the  best  actor  on  or  off  the  boards  in  Europe.  He 
met  me  coldly,  haughtily.  I  had  treated  him  badly,  for- 
sooth, shamefully;  I  had  not  deigned  a  reply  to  any  of  his 
letters.  He  had  written  me  three  —  he  was  n't  sure  there 
were  not  four  letters  —  to  Rome.  He  had  sent  me  cards  for 
the  Pope's  chapel  —  cards  for  Cardinal  Somebody's  recep- 
tions—  cards  for  a  concert  at  St.  Paul's,  outside  the  walls. 
I  don't  know  what  attentions  he  had  not  showered  on  me, 
nor  how  many  of  his  high  and  titled  friends  had  not  called 
at  a  hotel  where  I  never  stopped,  or  left  their  names  with  a 
porter  I  never  saw.  I  had  to  wait  till  he  poured  forth  all 
this  with  a  grand  eloquence,  at  once  disdainful  and  damag- 
ing; the  peroration  being  in  this  wise  —  that  such  lapses  as 
mine  were  things  unknown  in  the  latitudes  inhabited  by 
well-bred  people.  'These  things  are  not  done,  Mr.  Cutbill,' 
said  he,  arrogantly;  'these  things  are  not  done!  You  may 
call  them  trivial  omissions,  mere  trifles,  casual  forgetful- 
ness,  and  such  like;  but  even  men  who  have  achieved  dis- 
tinction, who  have  won  fame  and  honors  and  reputation,  as 
I  am  well  aware  is  your  case,  would  do  well  to  observe  the 
small  obligations  which  the  discipline  of  society  enforces, 
and  condescend  to  exchange  that  small  coin  of  civilities 
which  form  the  circulating  medium  of  good  manners.' 
When  he  had  delivered  himself  of  this  he  sat  down  over- 
powered; and  though  I,  in  very  plain  language,  told  him 
that  I  did  not  believe  a  syllable  about  the  letters,  nor  accept 
one  word  of  the  lesson,  he  only  fanned  himself  and  bathed 
his  temples  with  rose-water,  no  more  heeding  me  or  my 
indignation  than  if  I  had  been  one  of  the  figures  on  his 
Japanese  screen. 

"  'You  certainly  said  you  were  stopping  at  the  "Minerva,"  ' 
said  he. 

"  'I  certainly  told  your  Lordship  I  was  at  Spilman's.' 

"He  wanted  to  show  me  why  this  could  not  possibly  be 

the  case  —  how  men  like  himself  never  made  mistakes,  and 

men  like  me  continually  did  so  —  that  the  very  essence  of 

great  men's  lives  was  to  attach  importance  to  those  smaller 


428  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

circumstances  that  inferior  people  disregarded,  and  so  on ; 
but  I  simply  said,  'Let  us  leave  that  question  where  it  is, 
and  go  on  to  a  more  important  one.  Have  you  had  time  to 
look  over  my  account  ?  * 

"'If  you  had  received  the  second  of  those  letters  you 
have  with  such  unfeigned  candor  assured  me  were  never 
written,  you'd  have  seen  that  I  only  desire  to  know  the 
name  of  your  banker  in  town,  that  I  may  order  my  agent 
to  remit  the  money.' 

'"Let  us  make  no  more  mistakes  about  an  address,  my 
Lord,'  said  I.  'I  '11  take  a  check  for  the  amount  now,'  and 
he  gave  it.  He  sat  down  and  wrote  me  an  order  on  Hedges 
and  Holt,  Pall  Mall,  for  fifteen  hundred  pounds. 

"I  was  so  overcome  by  the  promptitude  and  by  the  grand 
manner  he  handed  it  to  me,  that  I  am  free  to  confess  I  was 
heartily  ashamed  of  my  previous  rudeness,  and  would  have 
given  a  handsome  discount  off  my  check  to  have  been  able 
to  obliterate  all  memory  of  my  insolence. 

"  'Is  there  anything  more  between  us,  Mr.  Cutbill?  '  said 
he,  politely;  'for  I  think  it  would  be  a  mutual  benefit  if 
we  could  settle  all  our  outlying  transactions  at  the  present 
interview.' 

"  'Well,'  said  I,  'there's  that  two  thousand  of  the  par- 
son's, paid  in,  if  you  remember,  after  Portlaw's  report  to 
your  Lordship  that  the  whole  scheme  must  founder.' 

"He  tried  to  browbeat  at  this.  It  was  a  matter  in  which 
I  had  no  concern;  it  was  a  question  which  Mr.  L'Estrange 
was  at  full  liberty  to  bring  before  the  courts  of  law;  my 
statement  about  Portlaw  was  incorrect;  dates  were  against 
me,  law  was  against  me,  custom  was  against  me,  and  at 
last  it  was  nigh  dinner-hour,  and  time  was  against  me; 
'unless,'  said  he,  with  a  change  of  voice  I  never  heard 
equalled  off  the  stage,  'you  will  stay  and  eat  a  very  hum- 
ble dinner  with  Temple  and  myself,  for  my  Lady  is 
Indisposed.' 

"  To  be  almost  on  fighting  terms  with  a  man  ten  minutes 
ago,  and  to  accept  his  invitation  to  dinner  now,  seemed  to 
me  one  of  those  things  perfectly  beyond  human  accom- 
plishment ;  but  the  way  in  which  he  tendered  the  invitation, 
and  the  altered  tone  he  imparted  to  his  manner,  made  me 


SOME  NEWS  FROM   WITHOUT.  429 

feel  that  not  to  imitate  him  was  to  stamp  myself  forever  as 
one  of  those  vulgar  dogs  whom  he  had  just  been  ridiculing, 
and  I  assented. 

"I  have  a  perfect  recollection  of  a  superb  dinner;  but 
beyond  that,  and  that  the  champagne  was  decanted,  and 
that  there  was  a  large  cheese  stuffed  with  truffles,  and  that 
there  were  ortolans  in  ice,  I  know  nothing.  It  was  one  of 
the  pleasantest  evenings  I  ever  passed  in  my  life.  I  sang 
several  songs,  and  might  have  sung  more  if  a  message  had 
not  come  from  my  Lady  to  beg  that  the  piano  might  be 
stopped,  —  an  intimation  which  closed  the  seance  ;  and  I 
said  good-night.  The  next  morning  Temple  called  to  say 
my  Lord  was  too  much  engaged  to  be  able  to  receive  me 
again;  and  as  to  that  little  matter  I  had  mentioned,  he  had 
an  arrangement  to  propose  which  might  be  satisfactory. 
And  whether  it  was  that  my  faculties  were  not  the  clearer 
for  my  previous  night's  convivialities,  or  that  Temple's 
explanations  were  of  the  most  muddled  description,  or  that 
the  noble  lord  had  purposely  given  him  a  tangled  skein  to 
unravel,  I  don't  know;  but  all  I  could  make  out  of  the  pro- 
posed arrangement  was  that  he  would  n't  give  any  money 
back,  — no,  not  on  any  terms:  to  do  so  would  be  something 
so  derogatory  to  himself,  to  his  rank,  to  his  position  in 
diplomacy,  it  would  amount  to  a  self-accusation  of  fraud ; 
what  would  be  thought  of  him  by  his  brother  peers,  by 
society,   by  the  world,   and  by  The  Office? 

"He  had,  however,  the  alternate  presentation  to  the  liv- 
ing of  Oxington  in  Herts.  It  was  two  hundred  and  forty 
pounds  per  annum  and  a  house,  —  in  fact,  'a  provision  more 
than  ample,'  he  said,  'for  any  man  not  utterly  a  worldling.' 
He  was  not  sure  whether  the  next  appointment  lay  with 
himself  or  a  certain  Sir  Marcus  Cluff,  —  a  retired  fish- 
monger, he  thought,  —  then  living  at  Rome ;  but  as  well  as 
I  could  make  out,  if  it  was  Lord  Culduff's  turn  he  would 
appoint  L' Estrange,  and  if  it  was  Cluff's  we  were  to  cajole, 
or  to  bully,  or  to  persuade  him  out  of  it;  and  L'Estrange 
was  to  be  inducted  as  soon  as  the  present  incumbent,  who 
only  wanted  a  few  months  of  ninety,  was  promoted  to  a 
better  place.  This  may  all  seem  very  confused,  dim,  and 
unintelligible,   but  it   is   a   plain   ungarbled   statement  in 


Of  rne 

1 1  M  I  \  /  rr  o  o  I T- w 


430  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

comparison  with  what  I  received  from  Temple,  who,  to  do 
him  justice,  felt  all  the  awkwardness  of  being  sent  out  to  do 
something  he  did  n't  understand  by  means  that  he  never 
possessed.  He  handed  me,  however,  a  letter  for  Cluff  from 
the  noble  Viscount,  which  I  was  to  deliver  at  once ;  and,  in 
fact,  this  much  was  intelligible,  that  the  sooner  I  took 
myself  away  from  Naples,  in  any  direction  I  liked  best,  the 
better.  There  are  times  when  it  is  as  well  not  to  show  that 
you  see  the  enemy  is  cheating  you,  when  the  shrewdest 
policy  is  to  let  him  deem  you  a  dupe  and  wait  patiently  till 
he  has  compromised  himself  beyond  recall.  In  this  sense 
I  agreed  to  be  the  bearer  of  the  letter,  and  started  the  same 
night  for  Rome. 

"  Cluff  was  installed  at  the  same  hotel  where  I  was  stop- 
ping, and  I  saw  him  the  next  morning.  He  was  a  poor 
broken-down  creature,  sitting  in  a  room  saturated  with 
some  peculiar  vapor  which  seemed  to  agree  with  him,  but 
half  suffocated  me.  The  Viscount's  letter,  however,  very 
nearly  put  us  on  a  level,  for  it  took  his  breath  away,  and 
all  but  finished  him. 

"  'Do  you  know,  Sir,'  said  he,  'that  Lord  Culduff  talks 
here  of  a  title  to  a  presentation  that  I  bought  with  the 
estate  thirty  years  ago,  and  that  he  has  no  more  right  in 
the  matter  than  he  has  to  the  manor-house.  The  vicarage 
is  my  sole  gift,  and  though  the  present  incumbent  is  but 
two-and-thirty,  he  means  to  resign  and  go  out  to  New 
Zealand.'  He  maundered  on  about  Lord  Culduff's  inexpli- 
cable blunder ;  what  course  he  ought  to  adopt  towards  him ; 
if  it  were  actionable,  or  if  a  simple  apology  would  be  the 
best  solution,  and  at  last  said,  'There  was  no  one  for  whom 
he  had  a  higher  esteem  than  Mr.  L' Estrange,  and  that  if  I 
would  give  him  his  address  he  would  like  to  communicate 
with  him  personally  in  the  matter.'  This  looked  at  least 
favorable,  and  I  gave  it  with  great  willingness ;  but  I  am 
free  to  own  I  have  become  now  so  accustomed  to  be  jockeyed 
at  every  step  I  go,  that  I  would  n't  trust  the  Pope  himself, 
if  he  promised  me  anything  beyond  his  blessing. 

"I  saw  Cluff  again  to-day,  and  he  said  he  had  half- 
written,  his  letter  to  L'Estrange;  but  being  his  postfumiga- 
tion  day,  when  his  doctor  enjoined  complete  repose,  he  could 


SOME  NEWS  FROM  WITHOUT.  431 

not  complete  or  post  the  document  till  Saturday.  I  have 
thought  it  best,  however,  to  apprise  you,  and  L'Estrange 
through  you,  that  such  a  letter  is  on  its  way  to  Cattaro, 
and,  I  trust,  with  satisfactory  intelligence.  And  now  that 
I  must  bring  this  long  narrative  to  an  end,  I  scarcely  know 
whether  I  shall  repeat  a  scandal  you  may  have  heard 
already,  or,  more  probably  still,  not  like  to  hear  now;  but 
it  is  the  town-talk  here,  —  that  Pracontal,  or  Count  Bram- 
leigh  —  I  don't  know  which  name  he  is  best  known  by  —  is 
to  marry  Lady  Augusta.  Some  say  that  the  marriage  will 
depend  on  the  verdict  of  the  trial  being  in  his  favor;  others 
declare  that  she  has  accepted  him  unconditionally.  I  was 
not  disposed  to  believe  the  story,  but  Cluff  assures  me  that 
it  is  unquestionable,  and  that  he  knows  a  lady  to  whom 
Lady  Augusta  confided  this  determination.  And,  as  Cluff 
says,  such  an  opportunity  of  shocking  the  world  will  not 
occur  every  day,  and  it  cannot  be  expected  she  could  resist 
the  temptation. 

"I  am  going  back  to  England  at  once,  and  I  enclose  you 
my  town  address  in  case  you  want  me:  '4,  Joy  Court, 
Cannon  Street.'  The  Culduff  mining  scheme  is  now  wound 
up,  and  the  shareholders  have  signed  a  consent.  Their  first 
dividend  of  fourpence  will  be  paid  in  January,  future  pay- 
ment will  be  announced  by  notice.  Tell  L'Estrange,  how- 
ever, not  to  'come  in,'  but  to  wait. 

'  "If  I  can  be  of  service  in  any  way,  make  use  of  me, 
and  if  I  cannot,  don't  forget  me,  but  think  of  me  as,  what 
I  once  overheard  L'Estrange's  sister  call  me,  —  a  well- 
meaning  snob,   and  very  faithfully  yours, 

"T.   CUTBILL." 


CHAPTER  LII. 

ISCHIA. 

The  sun  had  just  suuk  below  the  horizon,  and  a  "blaze  of 
blended  crimson  and  gold  spread  over  the  Bay  of  Naples, 
coloring  the  rocky  island  of  Ischia  till  it  glowed  like  a 
carbuncle.  Gradually,  however,  the  rich  warm  tints  began 
to  fade  away  from  the  base  of  the  mountains,  and  a  cold 
blue  color  stole  slowly  up  their  sides,  peak  after  peak  sur- 
rendering their  gorgeous  panoply,  till  at  length  the  whole 
island  assumed  a  tinge  blue  as  the  sea  it  stood  in. 

But  for  the  memory  of  the  former  glory  it  would  have 
been  difficult  to  imagine  a  more  beautiful  picture.  Every 
cliff  and  jutting  promontory  tufted  with  wild  olives  and 
myrtle  was  reflected  in  the  waveless  sea  below ;  and  feathery 
palm-trees  and  broad-leaved  figs  trembled  in  the  water,  as 
that  gentle  wash  eddied  softly  round  the  rocks,  or  played  on 
the  golden  shore. 

It  was  essentially  the  hour  of  peace  and  repose.  Along 
the  shores  of  the  bay,  in  every  little  village,  the  angelus  was 
ringing,  and  kneeling  groups  were  bowed  in  prayer;  and 
even  here,  on  this  rocky  islet,  where  crime  and  wretched- 
ness were  sent  to  expiate  by  years  of  misery  their  sins 
against  their  fellow-men,  the  poor  galley-slaves  caught  one 
instant  of  kindred  with  the  world,  and  were  suffered  to  taste 
in  peace  the  beauty  of  the  hour.  There  they  were  in  little 
knots  and  groups  —  some  lying  listlessly  in  the  deep  grass  ; 
some  gathered  on  a  little  rocky  point,  watching  the  fish  as 
they  darted  to  and  fro  in  the  limpid  water,  and  doubtless 
envying  their  glorious  freedom:  and  others,  again,  seated 
under  some  spreading  tree,  and  seeming,  at  least,  to  feel 
the  calm  influence  of  the  hour. 


ISCHIA.  433 

The  soldiers  who  formed  their  guard  had  piled  their  arms, 
leaving  here  and  there  merely  a  sentinel,  and  had  gone  down 
amongst  the  rocks,  to  search  for  limpets,  or  those  rugged 
"  ricci  di  mare"  which  humble  palates  accept  as  delicacies. 
A  few,  too,  dashed  in  for  a  swim,  and  their  joyous  voices 
and  merry  laughter  were  heard  amid  the  plash  of  the  water 
they  disported  in. 

In  a  small  cleft  of  a  rock  overshadowed  by  an  old  ilex- 
tree  two  men  sat  moodily  gazing  on  the  sea.  In  dress  they 
were  indeed  alike,  for  both  wore  that  terrible  red  and  yellow 
livery  that  marks  a  life-long  condemnation,  and  each  car- 
ried the  heavy  chain  of  the  same  terrible  sentence.  They 
were  linked  together  at  the  ankle,  and  thus,  for  conve- 
nience' sake,  they  sat  shoulder  to  shoulder.  One  was  a  thin, 
spare,  but  still  wiry-looking  man,  evidently  far  advanced  in 
life,  but  with  a  vigor  in  his  look  and  a  quick  intelligence  in 
his  eye  that  showed  what  energy  he  must  have  possessed 
in  youth.  He  had  spent  years  at  the  galleys,  but  neither 
time  nor  the  degradation  of  his  associations  had  completely 
eradicated  the  traces  of  something  above  the  common  in 
his  appearance;  for  No.  97  —  he  had  no  other  name  as  a 
prisoner  —  had  been  condemned  for  his  share  in  a  plot 
against  the  life  of  the  king ;  three  of  his  associates  having 
been  beheaded  for  their  greater  criminality,  AYhat  station 
he  might  originally  have  belonged  to  was  no  longer  easy  to 
determine;  but  there  were  yet  some  signs  that  indicated 
that  he  had  been  at  least  in  the  middle  rank  of  life.  His 
companion  was  unlike  him  in  every  way.  He  was  a  young 
man  with  fresh  complexion  and  large  blue  eyes,  the  very 
type  of  frankness  and  good-nature.  Not  even  prison  diet 
and  discipline  had  yet  hollowed  his  cheek,  though  it  was 
easy  to  see  that  unaccustomed  labor  and  distasteful  food 
were  beginning  to  tell  upon  his  strength,  and  the  bitter 
smile  with  which  he  was  gazing  on  his  lank  figure  and 
wasted  hands  showed  the  weary  misery  that  was  consuming 
him. 

"  Well,  old  Nick,"  said  the  young  man  at  length,  "this 
is  to  be  our  last  evening  together;  and  if  ever  I  should 
touch  land  again,  is  there  any  way  I  could  help  you  —  is 
there  anything  I  could  do  for  3'ou  ?  " 

28 


434  THE   BRAJSILEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

"So  then  you're  determined  to  try  it?"  said  the  other, 
in  a  low  growling  tone. 

"  That  I  am.  I  have  not  spent  weeks  filing  through  that 
confounded  chain  for  nothing :  one  wrench  now  and  it 's 
smashed." 

"  And  then?  "  asked  the  old  man  with  a  grin. 

' '  And  then  I  '11  have  a  swim  for  it.  I  know  all  that  — 
I  know  it  all,"  said  he,  answering  a  gesture  of  the  other's 
hand  ;  ' '  but  do  you  think  I  care  to  drag  out  such  a  life  as 
this?" 

"  /do,"  was  the  quiet  reply. 

"  Then  why  you  do  is  clear  and  clean  beyond  me.  To  me 
it  is  worse  than  fifty  deaths." 

"Look  here,  lad,"  said  the  old  man,  with  a  degree  of 
animation  he  had  not  shown  before.  "  There  are  four 
hundred  and  eighty  of  us  here :  some  for  ten,  some  for 
twenty  years,  some  for  life ;  except  yourself  alone  there  is 
not  one  has  the  faintest  chance  of  a  pardon.  You  are  Eng- 
lish, and  your  nation  takes  trouble  about  its  people,  and, 
right  or  wrong,  in  the  end  gets  them  favorable  treatment, 
and  yet  you  are  the  only  man  here  would  put  his  life  in 
jeopardy  on  so  poor  a  chance." 

"I'll  try  it,  for  all  that." 

"  Did  you  ever  hear  of  a  man  that  escaped  by  swimming?  " 

"  If  they  did  n't  it  was  their  own  fault  —  at  least,  they  gave 
themselves  no  fair  chance :  they  always  made  for  the  shore, 
and  generally  the  nearest  shore,  and  of  course  they  were 
followed  and  taken.  I'll  strike  out  for  the  open  sea,  and 
when  I  have  cut  the  cork  floats  off  a  fishing-net,  I  '11  be 
able  to  float  for  hours,  if  I  should  tire  swimming.  Once  in 
the  open,  it  will  be  hard  luck  if  some  coasting  vessel,  some 
steamer  to  Palermo  or  Messina,  should  not  pick  me  up. 
Besides,  there  are  numbers  of  fishing-boats  — " 

"Any  one  of  which  would  be  right  glad  to  make  five 
ducats  by  bringing  you  safe  back  to  the  police." 

"I  don't  believe  it  —  I  don't  believe  there  is  that  much 
baseness  in  a  human  heart." 

"  Take  my  word  for  it,  there  are  depths  a  good  deal 
below  even  that,"  said  the  old  man,  with  a  harsh  grating 
laugh. 


ISCHIA.  435 

"  No  matter,  come  what  will  of  it,  I  '11  make  the  venture ; 
and  now,  as  our  time  is  growing  short,  tell  me  if  there  is 
anything  I  can  do  for  you,  if  I  live  to  get  free  again.  Have 
you  any  friends  who  could  help  you?  or  is  there  any  one  to 
whom  you  would  wish  me  to  go  on  your  behalf  ?  " 

*'  None  —  none,"  said  he,  slowly  but  calmly. 

"  As  yours  was  a  political  crime  —  " 

"  I  have  done  all  of  them,  and  if  my  life  were  to  be  drawn 
out  for  eighty  years  longer  it  would  not  suffice  for  all  the 
sentences  against  me." 

"  Still  I  'd  not  despair  of  doing  something  —  " 

"  Look  here,  lad,"  said  the  other,  sharply;  "  it  is  my  will 
that  all  who  belong  to  me  should  believe  me  dead.  I  was 
shipwrecked  twelve  years  ago,  and  reported  to  have  gone 
down  with  all  the  crew.     My  son  —  " 

*'  Have  you  a  son,  then?  " 

"  My  son  inherits  rights  that,  stained  as  I  am  by  crime 
and  condemnation,  I  never  could  have  maintained.  Whether 
he  shall  make  them  good  or  not  will  depend  on  whether  he 
has  more  or  less  of  my  blood  in  his  veins.  It  may  be,  how- 
ever, he  will  want  money  to  prosecute  his  claim.  I  have 
none  to  send  him,  but  I  could  tell  him  where  he  is  almost 
certain  to  find  not  only  money,  but  what  will  serve  him  more 
than  money,  if  you  could  make  him  out.  I  have  written 
some  of  the  names  he  is  known  by  on  this  paper,  and  he  can 
be  traced  through  Bolton,  the  banker  at  Naples.  Tell  him 
to  seek  out  all  the  places  old  Giacomo  Lami  worked  at.  He 
never  painted  his  daughter  Enrichetta  in  a  fresco,  that  he 
didn't  hide  gold,  or  jewels,  or  papers  of  value  somewhere 
near.  Tell  him,  above  all,  to  find  out  where  Giacomo's  last 
work  was  executed.  You  can  say  that  you  got  this  commis- 
sion from  me  years  ago  in  Monte  Video ;  and  when  you  tell 
him  it  was  Niccolo  Baldassare  gave  it,  he  '11  believe  you. 
There.  I  have  written  Giacomo  Lami  on  that  paper,  so 
that  you  need  not  trust  to  your  memory.  But  why  do  I 
waste  time  with  these  things?  You'll  never  set  foot  on 
shore,  lad — never." 

"  I  am  just  as  certain  that  I  shall.  If  that  son  of  yours 
was  only  as  certain  of  winning  his  estate,  I'd  call  him  a 
lucky  fellow.     But  see,  they  are  almost  dressed.     They  '11  be 


436  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

soon  ready  to  march  us  home.  Rest  your  foot  next  this 
rock  till  I  smash  the  link,  and  when  you  see  them  coming 
roll  this  heavy  stone  down  into  the  sea.  I  '11  make  for  the 
south  side  of  the  island,  and,  once  night  falls,  take  to  the 
water.  Good-bye,  old  fellow.  I  '11  not  forget  you  —  never, 
never,"  and  he  wrung  the  old  man's  hand  in  a  strong  grasp. 
The  chain  gave  way.  at  the  second  blow,  and  he  was  gone. 

Just  as  the  last  flickering  light  was  fading  from  the  sky, 
three  cannon  shots,  in  quick  succession,  announced  that  a 
prisoner  had  made  his  escape,  and  patrols  issued  forth  in 
every  direction  to  scour  the  island,  while  boats  were  manned 
to  search  the  caves  and  crevasses  along  the  shore. 

The  morning's  telegram  to  the  Minister  of  Police  ran 
thus:  "No.  11  made  his  escape  last  evening,  filing  his 
ankle-iron.  The  prisoner,  97,  to  whom  he  was  linked,  de- 
clares that  he  saw  him  leap  into  the  sea  and  sink.  This 
statement  is  not  believed ;  but  up  to  this,  no  trace  of  the 
missing  man  has  been  discovered." 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day.  Temple  Bramleigh 
learned  the  news,  and  hastened  home  to  the  hotel  to  inform 
his  chief.  Lord  Culduff  was  not  in  the  best  of  tempers. 
Some  independent  member  below  the  gangway  had  given 
notice  of  a  question  he  intended  to  ask  the  Secretary  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  and  the  leader  of  a  Radical  morning  paper 
had  thus  paraphrased  the  inquiry:  "What  Mr.  Bechell 
wishes  to  ascertain,  in  fact,  amounts  to  this,  — '  Could  not 
the  case  of  Samuel  Rogers  have  been  treated  by  our  resident 
envoy  at  Naples,  or  was  it  necessary  that  the  dignity  and 
honor  of  England  should  be  maintained  by  an  essenced 
old  fop,  whose  social  successes  —  and  we  never  heard  that 
he  had  any  other  —  date  from  the  early  days  of  the  Re- 
gency?'" 

Lord  Culduff  was  pacing  his  room  angrily  when  Temple 
entered,  and,  although  nothing  would  have  induced  him  to 
show  the  insolent  paragraph  of  the  paper,  he  burst  out  into 
a  violent  abuse  of  those  meddlesome  Radicals,  whose  whole 
mission  in  life  was  to  assail  men  of  family  and  station. 

"In  the  famous  revolution  of  France,  sir,"  cried  he, 
"  they  did  their  work  with  the  guillotine;  but  our  cowardly 
canaille  never  rise  above  defamation.     You  must  write  to 


ISCHIA.  -  437 

the  papers  about  this,  Temple.  You  must  expose  this  sys- 
tem of  social  assassination,  or  the  clay  will  come,  if  it  has 
not  already  come,  when  gentlemen  of  birth  and  blood  will 
refuse  to  serve  the  Crown." 

' '  I  came  back  to  tell  you  that  our  man  has  made  his 
escape,"  said  Temple,  half  trembling  at  daring  to  interrupt 
this  flow  of  indignation. 

'*  And  whom  do  you  call  our  man,  sir?" 
' '  I   mean   Rogers  —  the   fellow   we   have   been   writing 
about." 

"  How  and  when  has  this  happened?  " 

Temple  proceeded  to  repeat  what  he  had  learned  at  the 
prefecture  of  the  police,  and  read  out  the  words  of  the 
telegram. 

*'  Let  us  see,"  said  Lord  Culduff,  seating  himself  in  a  well- 
cushioned  chair.  *'  Let  us  see  what  new  turn  this  will  give 
the  affair.  He  may  be^  recaptured,  or  he  may  be,  most  pro- 
bably is,  drowned.  We  then  come  in  for  compensation. 
They  must  indemnify.  There  are  few  claims  so  thoroughly 
chronic  in  their  character  as  those  for  an  idemnity.  You 
first  discuss  the  right,  and  you  then  higgle  over  the  arith- 
metic. I  don't  want  to  go  back  to  town  this  season.  See 
to  it  then,  Temple,  that  we  reserve  this  question  entirely  to 
ourselves.     Let  Blagden  refer  everything  to  us." 

*'  They  have  sent  the  news  home  already." 

''Oh!  they  have.  Very  sharp  practice.  Not  peculiar 
for  any  extreme  delicacy  either.  But  I  cannot  dine  with 
Blagden,  for  all  that.  This  escape  gives  a  curious  turn  to 
the  whole  affair.  Let  us  look  into  it  a  little.  I  take  it  the 
fellow  must  have  gone  down  —  eh  ?  " 

"  Most  probably." 

"Or  he  might  have  been  picked  up  by  some  passing 
steamer  or  by  a  fishing-boat.  Suppose  him  to  have  got 
free,  he  '11  get  back  to  England,  and  make  capital  out  of  the 
adventure.     These  fellows  understand  all  that  nowadays." 

Temple,  seeing  a  reply  was  expected,  assented. 

"  So  that  we  must  not  be  precipitate.  Temple,"  said  Lord 
Culduff,  slowly.     "It's  a  case  for  caution." 

These  words,  and  the  keen  look  that  accompanied  them, 
were  perfect  puzzles  to  Temple,  and  he  did  not  dare  to  speak. 


438  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"The  thing  must  be  done  this  wise,"  said  Lord  Culduff. 
"It  must  be  a  'private  and  confidential'  to  the  office,  and 
•a  'sly  and  ambiguous'  to  the  public  prints.  I'll  charge 
myself  with  the  former ;  the  latter  shall  be  your  care,  Tem- 
ple. You  are  intimate  with  Flosser,  the  correspondent  of 
the  '  Bell-AVeather.'  Have  him  to  dinner  and  be  indiscreet. 
This  old  Madeira  here  will  explain  any  amount  of  expan- 
siveness.  Get  him  to  talli  of  this  escape,  and  let  out  the 
secret  that  it  was  we  who  managed  it  all.  Mind,  however, 
that  you  swear  him  not  to  reveal  anything.  It  would  be 
your  ruin,  you  must  say,  if  the  affair  got  wind  ;  but  the  fact 
was  Lord  Culduff  saw  the  Neapolitans  were  determined  not 
to  surrender  him,  and  knowing  what  an  insult  it  would  be 
to  the  public  feeling  of  England  that  an  Englishman  was  held 
as  a  prisoner  at  the  galleys,  for  an  act  of  heroism  and 
gallantry,  the  only  course  was  to  liberate  him  at  any  cost 
and  in  any  way.  Flosser  will  swear  secrecy,  but  hints  at 
this  solution  as  the  on  dit  in  certain  keen  coteries.  Such 
a  mode  of  treating  the  matter  carries  more  real  weight  than 
a  sworn  affidavit.  Men  like  the  problem  that  they  fancy 
they  have  unravelled  by  their  own  acuteness.  And  then  it 
muzzles  discussion  in  the  House,  since  even  the  most  bla- 
tant Radical  sees  that  it  cannot  be  debated  openly ;  for  all 
Englishmen,  as  a  rule,  love  compensation,  and  we  can  only 
claim  indemnification  here  on  the  assumption  that  we  were 
no  parties  to  the  escape.     Do  you  follow  me.  Temple?" 

"  I  believe  I  do.     I  see  the  drift  of  it  at  last." 

"There's  no  drift,  sir.  It  is  a  full,  palpable,  well- 
delivered  blow.  We  saved  Rogers;  but  we  refuse  to  ex- 
plain how." 

"  And  if  he  turns  up  one  of  these  days,  and  refuses  to 
confirm  us?" 

"Then  we  denounce  him  as  an  impostor;  but  always, 
mark  you,  in  the  same  shadowy  way  that  we  allude  to  our 
share  in  his  evasion.  It  must  be  a  sketch  in  water-colors 
throughout.  Temple,  —  very  faint  and  very  transparent . 
When  I  have  rough-drafted  my  despatch  you  shall  see  it. 
Once  the  original  melody  is  before  you,  you  will  see  there 
is  nothing  to  do  but  invent  the  variations." 

"  My  Lady  wishes  to  know,  my  Lord,  if  your  Lordship 


ISCHIA.  439 

will  step  upstairs  to  speak  to  her?"  said  a  servant  at  this 
conjuDcture. 

"  Go  up,  Temple,  and  see  what  it  is,"  whispered  Lord 
Culduff.  ''If  it  be  about  that  box  at  the  St.  Carlos,  you 
can  say  our  stay  here  is  now  most  uncertain.  If  it  be  a 
budget  question,  she  must  wait  till  quarter-day."  He  smiled 
maliciously  as  he  spoke,  and  waved  his  hand  to  dismiss  him. 
Within  a  minute  —  it  seemed  scarcely  half  that  time  —  Lady 
Culduff  entered  the  room,  with  an  open  letter  in  her  hand ; 
her  color  was  high,  and  her  eyes  flashing,  as  she  said :  — 

"  Make  your  mind  at  ease,  my  Lord.  It  is  no  question 
of  an  opera-box,  or  a  milliner's  bill,  but  it  is  a  matter  of 
much  importance  that  I  desire  to  speak  about.  Will  you  do 
me  the  favor  to  read  that,  and  say  what  answer  I  shall 
return  to  it?  " 

Lord  Culduff  took  the  letter  and  read  it  over  leisurely, 
and  then,  laying  it  down,  said,  "Lady  Augusta  is  not  a  very 
perspicuous  letter-writer,  or  else  she  feels  her  present  task 
too  much  for  her  tact,  but  what  she  means  here  is,  that  you 
should  give  M.  Pracontal  permission  to  ransack  your  brother's 
house  for  documents,  which,  if  discovered,  might  deprive  him 
of  the  title  to  his  estate.  The  request,  at  least,  has  modesty 
to  recommend  it." 

"The  absurdity  is,  to  my  thinking,  greater  than  even  the 
impertinence,"  cried  Lady  Culduff.  "  She  says,  that  on 
separating  two  pages,  which  by  some  accident  had  adhered, 
of  Giacomo  Lami's  journal,  —  whoever  Giacomo  Lami  may 
be,  —  tee  —  ive  being  Pracontal  and  herself  —  have  dis- 
covered that  it  was  Giacomo's  habit  to  conceal  important 
papers  in  the  walls  where  he  painted,  and  in  all  cases  where 
he  introduced  his  daughter's  portrait ;  and  that  as  in  the 
octagon  room  at  Castello  there  is  a  picture  of  her  as  Flora, 
it  is  believed  —  confidently  believed  —  such  documents  will 
be  found  there  as  will  throw  great  light  on  the  present 
claim  —  " 

"First  of  all,"  said  he,  interrupting,  "is  there  such  a 
portrait?  " 

"  There  is  a  Flora  ;  I  never  heard  it  was  a  portrait.  Who 
could  tell  after  what  the  artist  copied  it?  " 

"  Lady  Augusta  assumes  to  believe  this  story." 


440  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  Lady  Augusta  is  ouly  too  glad  to  believe  what  every- 
body else  would  pronounce  incredible ;  but  this  is  not  all, 
she  has  the  inconceivable  impertinence  to  prefer  this  request 
to  us,  to  make  us  a  party  to  our  own  detriment,  —  as  if  it 
were  matter  of  perfect  indifference  who  possessed  these 
estates,  and  who  owned  Castello." 

"I  declare  I  have  heard  sentiments  from  your  brother 
Augustus  that  would  fully  warrant  this  impression.  I  have 
a  letter  of  his  in  my  desk  wherein  he  distinctly  says,  that 
once  satisfied  in  his  own  mind — not  to  the  conviction  of 
his  lawyer,  mark  you,  nor  to  the  conviction  of  men  well 
versed  in  evidence,  and  accustomed  to  sift  testimony,  but 
simply  in  his  own  not  very  capacious  intellect  —  that  the 
estate  belongs  to  Pracontal,  he'll  yield  him  up  the  pos- 
session without  dispute  or  delay." 

"  He  's  a  fool !  there  is  no  other  name  for  him,"  said  she, 
passionately. 

"Yes,  and  his  folly  is  very  mischievous  folly,  for  he  is 
abrogating  rights  he  has  no  pretension  to  deal  with.  It  is 
as  well,  at  all  events,  that  this  demand  was  addressed  to  us 
and  not  to  your  brother,  for  I'm  certain  he'd  not  have 
refused  his  permission." 

"I  know  it,"  said  she,  fiercely;  "and  if  Lady  Augusta 
only  knew  his  address  and  how  a  letter  might  reach  him, 
she  would  never  have  written  to  us.  Time  pressed,  how- 
ever ;  see  what  she  says  here.  '  The  case  will  come  on  for 
trial  in  November,  and  if  the  papers  have  the  value  and 
significance  Count  Pracontal's  lawyers  suspect,  there  will 
yet  be  time  to  make  some  arrangement,  —  the  Count  would 
be  disposed  for  a  generous  one,  —  which  might  lessen  the 
blow,  and  diminish  the  evil  consequences  of  a  verdict  cer- 
tain to  be  adverse  to  the  present  possessor.' " 

"  She  dissevers  her  interests  from  those  of  her  late  hus- 
band's family  with  great  magnanimity,  I  must  say." 

"  The  horrid  woman  is  going  to  marry  Pracontal." 

"  They  say  so,  but  I  doubt  it  —  at  least,  till  he  comes  out 
a  victor." 

"  How  she  could  have  dared  to  write  this,  how  she  could 
have  had  the  shamelessness  to  ask  me,  —  me  whom  she  cer- 
tainly ought  to  know,  —  to  aid   and  abet   a  plot  directed 


ISCHIA.  441 

against  the  estates  —  the  very  legitimacy  of  my  family  —  is 
more  than  I  can  conceive." 

"  She  's  an  implicit  believer,  one  must  admit,  for  she  says, 
'  if  on  examining  the  part  of  the  wall  behind  the  pedestal  of 
the  figm-e  nothing  shall  be  found,  she  desires  no  further 
search.'  The  spot  is  indicated  with  such  exactness  in  the 
journal  that  she  limits  her  request  distinctly  to  this." 

"  Probably  she  thought  the  destruction  of  a  costly  fresco 
might  well  have  been  demurred  to,"  said  Lady  Culduff, 
angrily.  "  Not  but,  for  my  part,  I  'd  equally  refuse  her  leave 
to  touch  the  moulding  in  the  surbase.  I  am  glad,  however, 
she  has  addressed  this  demand  to  us,  for  I  know  well 
Augustus  is  weak  enough  to  comply  with  it,  and  fancy  him- 
self a  hero  in  consequence.  There  is  something  piquant  in 
the  way  she  hints  that  she  is  asking  as  a  favor  what,  for  all 
she  knows,  might  be  claimed  as  a  right.  Imagine  a  woman 
saying  this !  " 

"It  is  like  asking  me  for  the  key  of  my  writing-desk  to 
see  if  I  have  not  some  paper  or  letter  there,  that  might,  if 
published,  give  me  grave  inconvenience." 

"  I  have  often  heard  of  her  eccentricities  and  absurdities, 
but  on  this  occasion  I  believe  she  has  actually  outdone  her- 
self. I  suppose,  though  this  appeal  is  made  to  us  con- 
jointly, as  it  is  addressed  to  me,  I  am  the  proper  person  to 
reply  to  it." 

"  Certainly,  my  Lady." 

"And  I  may  say  —  Lord  Culduff  feels  shocked  equally 
with  myself  at  the  indelicacy  of  the  step  you  have  just  taken ; 
failing  to  respect  the  tie  which  connects  you  with  our  family, 
you  might,  he  opines,  have  had  some  regard  for  the  decencies 
which  regulate  social  intercourse,  and  while  bearing  our 
name,  not  have  ranked  yourself  with  those  who  declare 
themselves  our  enemies.  I  may  say  this,  I  may  tell  her  that 
her  conduct  is  shameless,  an  outrage  on  all  feeling,  and  not 
only  derogatory  to  her  station,  but  unwomanly?" 

"I  don't  think  I'd  say  that,"  said  he,  with  a  faint  simper, 
while  he  patted  his  hand  with  a  gold  paper-knife.  "  I  opine 
the  better  way  would  be  to  accept  her  Ladyship's  letter  as 
the  most  natural  thing  in  life  from  her ;  that  she  had  pre- 
ferred a  request,  which  coming  from  Aer,  was  all  that  was 


442  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

right  and  reasonable.  That  there  was  something  very  noble 
and  very  elevated  in  the  way  she  could  rise  superior  to  per- 
sonal interests,  and  the  ties  of  kindred,  and  actually  assert 
the  claims  of  mere  justice ;  but  I  'd  add  that  the  decision 
could  not  lie  with  us  —  that  your  brother  being  the  head  of 
the  family,  was  the  person  to  whom  the  request  must  be 
addressed,  and  that  we  would,  with  her  permission,  charge 
ourselves  with  the  task.  Pray  hear  me  out  —  first  of  all,  we 
have  a  delay  while  she  replies  to  this,  with  or  without  the 
permission  we  ask  for ;  in  that  interval  you  can  inform  your 
brother  that  a  very  serious  plot  is  being  concerted  against 
him  ;  that  your  next  letter  will  fully  inform  him  as  to  the  de- 
tails of  the  conspiracy  —  your  present  advice  being  simply  for 
warning,  and  then,  when,  if  she  still  persist,  the  matter  must 
be  heard,  it  will  be  strange  if  Augustus  shall  not  have  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  part  intended  for  him  is  a  very 
contemptible  one  —  that  of  a  dupe." 

"Your  Lordship's  mode  may  be  more  diplomatic;  mine 
would  be  more  direct." 

"Which  is  exactly  its  demerit,  my  Lady,"  said  he,  with 
one  of  his  blandest  smiles.  "  In  my  craft  the  great  secret 
is  never  to  give  a  flat  refusal  to  anything.  If  the  French 
were  to  ask  us  for  the  Isle  of  Wight,  the  proper  reply  would 
be  a  polite  demand  for  the  reasons  that  prompted  the  request 
—  whether  '  Osborne '  might  be  reserved  —  and  a  courteous 
assurance  that  the  claim  should  meet  with  every  considera- 
tion and  a  cordial  disposition  to  make  every  possible  con- 
cession that  might  lead  to  a  closer  union  with  a  nation  it  was 
our  pride  and  happiness  to  reckon  on  as  an  ally." 

"  These  fallacies  never  deceive  any  one." 

"Nor  are  they  meant  to  do  so,  any  more  than  the  words 
'  your  most  obedient  and  humble  servant '  at  the  foot  of  a 
letter ;  but  they  serve  to  keep  correspondence  within  polite 
limits." 

"And  they  consume  time,"  broke  she  in,  impatiently. 

"And,  as  you  observe  so  aptly,  they  consume  time." 

"Let  us  have  done  with  trifling,  my  Lord.  I  mean  to 
answer  this  letter  in  my  own  way." 

"I  can  have  no  other  objection  to  make  to  that,  save  the 
unnecessary  loss  of  time  I  have  incurred  in  listening  to  the 
matter." 


ISCHIA.  443 

*'That  time  so  precious  to  the  nation  you  serve!  "  said 
she,  sneeringly. 

"Your  Ladyship  admirably  expresses  my  meaning." 

"Then,  my  Lord,  I  make  you  the  only  amends  in  my 
power ;  I  take  my  leave  of  you." 

"Your  Ladyship's  politeness  is  never  at  fault,"  said  he, 
rising  to  open  the  door  for  her. 

"Has  Temple  told  you  that  the  box  on  the  lower  tier  is 
now  free  —  the  box  I  spoke  of?  " 

"  He  has  ;  but  our  stay  here  is  now  uncertain.  It  may  be 
days  ;  it  may  be  hours  —  " 

"  And  why  was  not  I  told?  I  have  been  giving  orders  to 
tradespeople  —  accepting  invitations  —  making  engagements, 
and  what  not.  Am  I  to  be  treated  like  the  wife  of  a  subal- 
tern in  a  marching  regiment  —  to  hold  myself  ready  to  start 
when  the  route  comes  ?  " 

"How  I  could  envy  that  subaltern,"  said  he,  with  an 
inimitable  mixture  of  raillery  and  deference. 

She  darted  on  him  a  look  of  indignant  anger,  and  swept 
out  of  the  room. 

Lord  Culduff  rang  his  bell,  and  told  the  servant  to  beg 
Mr.  Temple  Bramleigh  would  have  the  kindness  to  step  down 
to  him. 

"Write  to  Filangieri,  Temple,"  said  he,  "  and  say  that  I 
desire  to  have  access  to  the  prisoner  Rogers.  We  know 
nothing  of  his  escape,  and  the  demand  will  embarrass  — 
There,  don't  start  objections,  my  dear  boy ;  I  never  play  a 
card  without  thinking  what  the  enemy  will  do  after  he  scores 
the  trick."       < 

And  with  this  profound  encomium  on  himself  he  dismissed 
the  secretary,  and  proceeded  to  read  the  morning  papers. 


CHAPTER  LIII. 

A    RAINY   NIGHT    AT    SEA. 

The  absurd  demand  preferred  by  Lady  Augusta  in  her  letter 
to  Marion  was  a  step  taken  without  any  authority  from  Pra- 
contal,  and  actually  without  his  knowledge.  On  the  dis- 
covery of  the  adhering  pages  of  the  journal,  and  their  long 
consideration  of  the  singular  memorandum  that  they  found 
within,  Pracontal  carried  away  the  book  to  Long  worth  to 
show  him  the  passage  and  ask  what  importance  he  might 
attach  to  its  contents. 

Longworth  was  certainly  struck  by  the  minute  particular- 
ity with  which  an  exact  place  was  indicated.  There  was  a 
rough  pen  sketch  of  the  Flora,  and  a  spot  marked  by  a  cross 
at  the  base  of  the  pedestal,  with  the  words,  "  Here  will  be 
found  the  books."  Lower  down  on  the  same  page  was 
written,  "These  volumes,  which  I  did  not  obtain  without 
difficulty,  and  which  were  too  cumbrous  to  carry  away,  I 
have  deposited  in  this  safe  place,  and  the  time  may  come 
when  they  will  be  of  value.  —  G.  L." 

"  Now,"  said  Longworth,  after  some  minutes  of  deep 
thought,  ' '  Lami  was  a  man  engaged  in  every  imaginable 
conspiracy.  There  was  not  a  state  in  Europe,  apparently, 
where  he  was  not,  to  some  extent,  compromised.  These 
books  he  refers  to  may  be  the  records  of  some  secret  society, 
and  he  may  have  stored  them  there  as  a  security  against  the 
lukewarmness  or  the  treachery  of  men  whose  fate  might  be 
imperilled  by  certain  documents.  Looking  to  the  character 
of  Lami,  his  intense  devotion  to  these  schemes,  and  his 
crafty  nature  and  the  Italian  forethought  which  seems  always 
to  have  marked  whatever  he  did,  I  half  incline  to  this  im- 
pression. Then,  on  the  other  hand,  you  remember,  Pracon- 
tal, when  we  went  over  to  Portshandon  to  inquire  about  the 


A  RAINY  NIGHT  AT  SEA.  445 

registry  books,  we  beard  that  they  had  all  been  stolen  or 
destroyed  by  the  rebels  in  '98?  " 

"Yes.  I  remember  that  well.  I  had  not  attached  any 
importance  to  the  fact ;  but  I  remember  how  much  Kelson 
was  disconcerted  and  put  out  by  the  intelligence,  and  how- 
he  continually  repeated,  'This  is  no  accident;  this  is  no 
accident.'  " 

"  It  would  be  a  rare  piece  of  fortune  if  they  were  the 
church  books,  and  that  they  contained  a  formal  registry  of 
the  marriage." 

"But  who  doubts  it?" 

"  Say  rather,  my  dear  friend,  why  should  any  one  believe 
it?  Just  think  for  one  moment  who  Montague  Bramleigh 
was,  what  was  his  station  and  his  fortune,  and  then  remem- 
ber the  interval  that  separated  him  from  the  Italian  painter 
—  a  man  of  a  certain  ability,  doubtless.  Is  it  the  most 
likely  thing  in  the  world  that  if  the  young  Englishman  fell 
in  love  with  the  beautiful  Italian,  that  he  would  have  sacri- 
ficed his  whole  ambition  in  life  to  his  passion  ?  Is  it  not 
far  more  probable,  in  fact,  that  no  marriage  whatever  united 
them?  Come,  come,  Pracontal,  this  is  not,  now  at  least,  a 
matter  to  grow  sulky  over;  you  cannot  be  angry  or  indig- 
nant at  my  frankness,  and  you  '11  not  shoot  me  for  this  slur 
on  your  grandmother's  fair  reputation." 

"  I  certainly  think  that  with  nothing  better  than  a  the- 
ory to  support  it,  you  might  have  spared  her  memory  this 
aspersion." 

"If  I  had  imagined  you  could  not  talk  of  it  as  uncon- 
cernedly as  myself,  I  assure  you  I  would  never  have  spoken 
about  it." 

"You  see  now,  however,  that  you  have  mistaken  me  — 
that  you  haVe  read  me  rather  as  one  of  your  own  people 
than  as  a  Frenchman,"  said  the  other,  warmly. 

"  I  certainly  see  that  I  must  not  speak  to  you  with 
frankness,  and  I  shall  use  caution  not  to  offend  you  by 
candor." 

"  This  is  not  enough,  sir,"  said  the  Frenchman,  rising 
and  staring  angrily  at  him. 

"What  is  not  enough?"  said  Longworth,  with  a  perfect 
composure. 


446  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  Not  enough  for  apology,  sir ;  not  enough  as  amende  for 
an  unwarrantable  and  insolent  calumny." 

"  You  are  getting  angry  at  the  sound  of  your  own  voice, 
Pracontal.  I  now  tell  you  that  I  never  meant  —  never 
could  have  meant — to  offend  you.  You  came  to  me  for  a 
counsel  which  I  could  only  give  by  speaking  freely  what  was 
in  my  mind.     This  is  surely  enough  for  explanation." 

"  Then  let  it  all  be  forgotten  at  once,"  cried  the  other, 
warmly. 

"I'll  not  go  that  far,"  said  Longworth,  in  the  same  calm 
tone  as  before.  "You  have  accepted  my  explanation;  you 
have  recognized  what  one  moment  of  justice  must  have  con- 
vinced you  of  —  that  I  had  no  intention  to  wound  your  feel- 
ings. There  is  certainly,  however,  no  reason  in  the  world 
why  I  should  expose  my  own  to  any  unnecessary  injury.  I 
have  escaped  a  peril ;  I  have  no  wish  to  incur  another  of  the 
same  sort." 

"  I  don't  think  I  understand  you,"  said  Pracontal,  quickly. 
"  Do  you  mean  we  should  quarrel?  " 

"  By  no  means." 

"That  we  should  separate,  then?" 

"  Certainly." 

The  Frenchman  became  pale,  and  suddenly  his  face  flushed 
till  it  was  deep  crimson,  and  his  eyes  flashed  with  fire.  The 
effort  to  be  calm  was  almost  a  strain  beyond  his  strength ; 
but  he  succeeded,  and  in  a  voice  scarcely  above  a  whisper, 
he  said,  "  I  am  deeply  in  your  debt.  I  cannot  say  how 
deeply.  My  lawyer,  however,  does  know,  and  I  will  con- 
fer with  him." 

"This  is  a  matter  of  small  consequence,  and  does  not 
press:  besides,  I  beg  you  will  not  let  it  trouble  you." 

The  measured  coldness  with  which  these  words  were 
spoken  seemed  to  jar  painfully  on  Pracontal's  temper,  for 
he  snatched  his  hat  from  the  table,  and  with  a  hurried 
"  Adieu  —  adieu,  then,"  left  the  room.  The  carriages  of 
the  hotel  were  waiting  in  the  courtyard  to  convey  the  trav- 
ellers to  the  station. 

"  Where  is  the  train  starting  for?"  asked  he  of  a  waiter. 

"For  Civita,  sir." 

"  Step  up  to  my  room,  then,  and  throw  my  clothes  into  a 


A  EAINY  NIGHT  AT   SEA.  447 

portmanteau  —  enough  for  a  few  days.     I  shall  have  time  to 
write  a  note,  I  suppose?" 

"Ample,  sir.  You  have  forty  minutes  yet." 
Pracontal  opened  his  writing-desk  and  wrote  a  few  lines 
to  Lady  Augusta,  to  tell  how  a  telegram  had  just  called  him 
away  —  it  might  be  to  Paris,  perhaps  London.  He  would 
be  back  within  ten  days,  and  explain  all.  He  wished  he 
might  have  her  leave  to  write,  but  he  had  not  a  moment  left 
him  to  ask  the  permission.  Should  he  risk  the  liberty? 
What  if  it  might  displease  her?  He  was  every  way  unfor- 
tunate ;  nor,  in  all  the  days  of  a  life  of  changes  and  vicis- 
situdes, did  he  remember  a  sadder  moment  than  this  in 
which  he  wrote  himself  her  devoted  servant,  A.  Pracontal 
de  Bramleigh.  This  done,  he  jumped  into  a  carriage,  and 
just  reached  the  train  in  time  to  start  for  Civita. 

There  was  little  of  exaggeration  when  he  said  he  had  never 
known  greater  misery  and  depression  than  he  now  felt.  The 
thought  of  that  last  meeting  with  Longworth  overwhelmed 
him  with  sorrow.  When  we  bear  in  mind  how  slowly  and 
gradually  the  edifice  of  friendship  is  built  up ;  how  many  of 
our  prejudices  have  often  to  be  overcome ;  how  much  of 
self-education  is  effected  in  the  process ;  the  thought  that  all 
this  labor  of  time  and  feeling  should  be  cast  to  the  winds  at 
once  for  a  word  of  passion  or  a  hasty  expression,  is  humil- 
iating to  a  degree.  Pracontal  had  set  great  store  by  Long- 
worth's  friendship  for  him.  He  had  accepted  great  favors 
at  his  hand ;  but  so  kindly  and  so  gracefully  conferred  as 
to  double  the  obligations  by  the  delicacy  with  which  they 
were  bestowed.  And  this  was  the  man  whose  good  feeling 
for  him  he  had  outraged  and  insulted  beyond  recall.  "  If 
it  had  been  an  open  quarrel  between  us,  I  could  have  stood 
his  fire  and  shown  him  how  thoroughly  I  knew  myself  in  the 
wrong ;  but  his  cold  disdain  is  more  than  I  can  bear.  And 
what  was  it  all  about?  How  my  old  comrades  would  laugh 
if  they  heard  that  I  had  quarrelled  with  my  best  friend. 
Ah,  my  grandmother's  reputation  !  Ma  foi^  how  much  more 
Importance  one  often  attaches  to  a  word  than  to  what  it  rep- 
resents !  "  Thus  angry  with  himself,  mocking  the  very  pre- 
tensions on  which  he  had  assumed  to  reprehend  his  friend, 
and  actually  ridiculing  his  own  conduct,  he  embarked  from 


448  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

Marseilles  to  hasten  over  to  England,  and  entreat  Kelson 
to  discbarge  the  money  obligation  which  yet  bound  him  to 
Longworth.  -~- — "^ 

It  was  a  rough  night  at  sea,  and  the  packet  so  crowded  by 
passengers  that  Pracontal  was  driven  to  pass  the  night  on 
deck.  In  the  haste  of  departure  he  had  not  provided  him- 
self with  overcoats  or  rugs,  and  was  but  ill-suited  to  stand 
the  severity  of  a  night  of  cold  cutting  wind  and  occasional 
drifts  of  hail.  To  keep  himself  warm  he  walked  the  deck 
for  hours,  pacing  rapidly  to  and  fro :  perhaps  not  sorry  at 
heart  that  physical  discomfort  compelled  him  to  dwell  less 
on  the  internal  griefs  that  preyed  upon  him.  One  solitary 
passenger  besides  himself  had  sought  the  deck,  and  he  had 
rolled  himself  in  a  multiplicity  of  warm  wrappers,  and  lay 
snugly  under  the  shelter  of  the  binnacle  —  a  capacious  tar- 
paulin cloak  surmounting  all  his  other  integuments. 

Pracontal' s  campaigning  experiences  had  taught  him  that 
the  next  best  thing  to  being  well  cloaked  oneself  is  to  lie 
near  the  man  that  is  so ;  and  thus,  seeing  that  the  traveller 
was  fast  asleep,  he  stretched  himself  under  his  lee,  and  even 
made  free  to  draw  a  corner  of  the  heavy  tarpaulin  over  him. 

"I  say,"  cried  the  stranger,  on  discovering  a  neighbor; 
"I  say,  old  fellow,  you  are  coming  it  a  bit  too  free  and 
easy.     You've  stripped  the  covering  off  my  legs." 

"  A  thousand  pardons,"  rejoined  Pracontal.  "  I  forgot 
to  take  my  rugs  and  wraps  with  me  ;  and  I  am  shivering  with 
cold.     I  have  not  even  an  overcoat." 

The  tone  —  so  evidently  that  of  a  gentleman,  and  the 
slight  touch  of  a  foreign  accent  —  apparently  at  once  concili- 
ated the  stranger,  for  he  said,  "  I  have  enough  and  to 
spare ;  spread  this  blanket  over  you ;  and  here  's  a  cushion 
for  a  pillow." 

These  courtesies,  accepted  frankly  as  offered,  soon  led 
them  to  talk  together;  and  the  two  men  speedily  found 
themselves  chatting  away  like  old  acquaintances. 

"I  am  puzzling  myself,"  said  the  stranger  at  last,  "to 
find  out  are  you  an  Englishman,  who  has  lived  long  abroad, 
or  are  you  a  foreigner?  " 

"Is  my  English  so  good  as  that?"  asked  Pracontal, 
lausfhins;. 


A  RAINY  NIGHT  AT  SEA.  449 

"  The  very  best  I  ever  heard  from  any  not  a  born 
Briton." 

"  Well,  I  'm  a  Frenchman  —  or  a  half  Frenchman  —  with 
some  Italian  and  some  English  blood,  too,  in  me." 

''Ah!  I  knew  you  must  have  had  a  dash  of  John  Bull  in 
you.     No  man  ever  spoke  such  English  as  yours  without  it." 

"  Well,  but  my  English  temperament  goes  two  genera- 
tions back.    I  don't  believe  my  father  was  ever  in  England." 

With  this  opening  they  talked  away  about  national  traits 
and  peculiarities :  the  Frenchman  with  all  the  tact  and  acute- 
ness  travel  and  much  intercourse  with  life  conferred ;  and 
the  other  with  the  especial  shrewdness  that  marks  a  Lon- 
doner. "  How  did  you  guess  I  was  a  Cockney?"  asked  he, 
laughingly.     "  I  don't  take  liberties  with  my  H  's." 

"If  you  had,  it's  not  likely  I'd  have  known  it,"  said 
Pracontal.  "  But  your  reference  to  town,  the  fidelity  with 
which  you  clung  to  what  London  would  think  of  this,  or  say 
to  that,  made  me  suspect  you  to  be  a  Londoner ;  and  I  see 
I  was  right." 

"  After  all,  you  Frenchmen  are  just  as  full  of  Paris." 

"  Because  Paris  epitomizes  France,  and  France  is  the 
greatest  of  all  countries." 

"  I  '11  not  stand  that.     I  deny  it  in  toto.'' 

"Well,  I'll  not  open  the  question  now,  or  maybe  you'd 
make  me  give  up  this  blanket." 

"No.  I'll  have  the  matter  out  on  fair  grounds.  Keep 
the  blanket,  but  just  let  me  hear  on  what  grounds  you  claim 
precedence  for  France  before  England." 

"I'm  too  unlucky  in  matters  of  dispute  to-day,"  said 
Pracontal,  sadly,  "  to  open  anew  discussion.  I  quarrelled 
with,  perhaps,  the  best  friend  I  had  in  the  world  this  morn- 
ing for  a  mere  nothing ;  and  though  there  is  little  fear  that 
anything  we  could  say  to  each  other  now  would  provoke  ill 
feeling  between  us,  I  '11  run  no  risks." 

"  By  Jove!  it  must  be  Scotch  blood  is  in  you.  I  never 
heard  of  such  caution !  " 

"No,  I  believe  my  English  connection  is  regular  Saxon. 
When  a  man  has  been  in  the  newspapers  in  England,  he  need 
not  affect  secrecy  or  caution  in  talking  of  himself.  I  figured 
in  a  trial  lately ;  I  don't  know  if  you  read  the  cause.     It  was 

29 


450  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

tried  in  Ireland — Count   Bramleigh   de  Pracontal  against 
Bramleigh." 

i'  AYbat,  are  you  Pracontal?  "  cried  the  stranger,  starting 
to  a  sitting  posture. 

"  Yes.     Why  are  you  so  much  interested?  " 
"Because  I  have  seen  the  place.     I  have  been  over  the 
property  in  dispute,  and  the  question  naturally  interests  me." 
"  Ha  !  you  know  Castello,  then?  " 

''  Castello,  or  Bishop's  Folly.  I  know  it  best  by  the  latter 
name." 

"  And  whom  am  I  speaking  to?  "  said  Pracontal ;  "for  as 
you  know  me,  perhaps  I  have  some  right  to  ask  this." 

"My  name  is  Cutbill;  and  now  that  you've  heard  it, 
you're  nothing  the  wiser." 

"  You  probably  know  the  Bramleighs?  " 
"  Every  one  of  them ;  Augustus,  the  eldest,  I  am  intimate 
with." 

"It's  not  my  fault  that  I  have  no  acquaintance  with  him. 
I  desired  it  much ;  and  Lady  Augusta  conveyed  my  wish  to 
Mr.  Bramleigh,  but  he  declined.  I  don't  know  on  what 
grounds;  but  he  refused  to  meet  me,  and  we  have  never 
seen  each  other." 

"  If  I  don't  greatly  mistake,  you  ought  to  have  met.  I 
hope  it  may  not  be  yet  too  late." 

"  Ah,  but  it  is!  We  are  en  pleine  guerre  now,  and  the 
battle  must  be  fought  out.  It  is  he,  and  not  I,  would  leave 
the  matter  to  this  issue.  I  was  for  a  compromise ;  I  would 
have  accepted  an  arrangement ;  I  was  unwilling  to  overthrow 
a  whole  family  and  consign  them  to  ruin.  They  might  have 
made  their  own  terms  with  me ;  but  no,  they  preferred  to 
defy  me.  They  determined  I  should  be  a  mere  pretender. 
They  gave  me  no  alternative ;  and  I  fight  because  there  is  no 
retreat  open  to  me." 

"  And  yet  if  you  knew  Bramleigh  —  " 
"  Mon  cher,  he  would  not  give  me  the  chance  ;  he  repulsed 
the  offer  I  made ;  he  would  not  touch  the  hand  I  held  out  to 
him." 

"  I  am  told  that  the  judge  declared  that  he  never  tried  a 
cause  where  the  defendant  displayed  a  more  honorable  line 
of  conduct." 


A  RAINY  NIGHT  AT   SEA.  451 

*'That  is  all  true.  Kelson,  my  lawyer,  said  that  every- 
thing they  did  was  straightforward  and  creditable ;  but 
he  said,  too,  don't  go  near  them,  don't  encourage  any 
acquaintance  with  them,  or  some  sort  of  arrangement  will  be 
patched  up  which  will  leave  everything  unsettled  to  another 
generation  —  when  all  may  become  once  more  litigated  with 
less  light  to  guide  a  decision  and  far  less  chance  of  obtaining 
evidence." 

"  Never  mind  the  lawyers,  Count,  never  mind  the  lawyers. 
Use  your  own  good  sense,  and  your  own  generous  instincts ; 
place  yourself  —  in  idea  —  in  Bramleigh's  position,  and  ask 
yourself  could  you  act  more  handsomely  than  he  has  done? 
and  then  bethink  you,  what  is  the  proper  way  to  meet  such 
conduct." 

"It's  all  too  late  for  this  now;  don't  ask  me  why,  but 
take  my  word  for  it,  it  is  too  late." 

"It's  never  too  late  to  do  the  right  thing,  though  it  may 
cost  a  man  some  pain  to  own  he  is  changing  his  mind." 

"  It 's  not  that ;  it 's  not  that,"  said  the  other,  peevishly, 
"though  I  cannot  explain  to  you  why  or  how." 

"I  don't  want  to  hear  secrets,"  said  Cutbill,  bluntly; 
"  all  the  more  that  you  and  I  are  strangers  to  each  other.  I 
don't  think  either  of  us  has  had  a  good  look  at  the  other's 
face  yet." 

"I've  seen  yours,  and  I  don't  distrust  it,"  said  the 
Frenchman. 

"  Good-night,  then,  there  's  a  civil  speech  to  go  to  sleep 
over,"  and  so  saying,  he  rolled  over  to  the  other  side,  and 
drew  his  blanket  over  his  head. 

Pracontal  lay  a  long  time  awake,  thinking  of  the  strange 
companion  he  had  chanced  upon,  and  that  still  stranger 
amount  of  intimacy  that  had  grown  up  between  them.  "  I 
suppose,"  mutteied  he  to  himself,  "I  must  be  the  most  in- 
discreet fellow  in  the  world ;  but  after  all,  what  have  I  said 
that  he  has  not  read  in  the  newspapers,  or  may  not  read 
next  week  or  the  week  after?  I  know  how  Kelson  would 
condemn  me  for  this  careless  habit  of  talking  of  myself  and 
my  affairs  to  the  first  man  I  meet  on  a  railroad  or  a  steamer ; 
but  I  must  be  what  nature  made  me,  and  after  all,  if  I  show 
too  much  of  my  hand,  I  gain  something  by  learning  what  the 
bystanders  say  of  it." 


452  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

It  was  not  till  nigh  daybreak  that  he  dropped  off  to  sleep ; 
and  when  he  awoke  it  was  to  see  Mr.  Cutbill  with  a  large 
bowl  of  hot  coffee  in  one  hand,  and  a  roll  in  the  other,  mak- 
ing an  early  breakfast ;  a  very  rueful  figure,  too,  was  he  — 
as,  black  with  smoke  and  coal-dust,  he  propped  himself 
against  the  binnacle,  and  gazed  out  over  the  waste  of 
waters. 

"  You  are  a  good  sailor,  I  see,  and  don't  fear  sea-sick- 
ness," said  Pracontal. 

''  Don't  I?  that's  all  you  know  of  it;  but  I  take  every- 
thing they  bring  me.  There 's  a  rasher  on  its  way  to  me 
now,  if  I  survive  this." 

"  I'm  for  a  basin  of  cold  water  and  coarse  towels,"  said 
the  other,  rising. 

"  That 's  two  points  in  your  favor  towards  having  English 
blood  in  you,"  said  Cutbill,  gravely,  for  already  his  qualms 
were  returning ;  "  when  a  fellow  tells  you  he  cares  for  soap, 
he  can't  be  out  and  out  a  Frenchman."  This  speech  was 
delivered  with  great  difficulty,  and  when  it  was  done  he 
rolled  over  and  covered  himself  up,  over  face  and  head, 
and  spoke  no  more. 


CHAPTER  LIV. 

THE    LETTER   BAG. 

*'What  a  mail-bag!"  cried  Nelly,  as  she  threw  several 
letters  on  the  breakfast- table ;  the  same  breakfast-table  be- 
ing laid  under  a  spreading  vine,  all  draped  and  festooned 
with  a  gorgeous  clematis. 

''I  declare,"  said  Augustus,  "  I  'd  rather  look  out  yonder, 
over  the  blue  gulf  of  Cattaro,  than  see  all  the  post  could 
bring  me." 

''This  is  for  you,"  said  Nelly,  handing  a  letter  to 
L'Estrange. 

He  reddened  as  he  took  it ;  not  that  he  knew  either  the 
writing  or  the  seal,  but  that  terrible  consciousness  which 
besets  the  poor  man  in  life  leads  him  always  to  regard  the 
unknown  as  pregnant  with  misfortune :  and  so  he  pocketed 
his  letter,  to  read  it  when  alone  and  unobserved. 

"Here's  Cutbill  again.  I  don't  think  I  care  for  more 
Cutbill,"  said  Bramleigh ;  ''and  here's  Sedley;  Sedley  will 
keep.     This  is  from  Marion." 

"  Oh,  let  us  hear  Marion  by  all  means,"  said  Nelly. 
"  May  I  read  her.  Gusty?  "  He  nodded,  and  she  broke  the 
envelope.  "Ten  lines  and  a  postscript.  She 's  positively 
expansive  this  time  :  — 

"  <  Victoria,  Naples. 
"  '  My  dear  Gusty,  —  Our  discreet  and  delicate  stepmother 
has  written  to  ask  me  to  intercede  with  you  to  permit  M.  Pracontal 
to  pull  down  part  of  the  house  at  Castello,  to  search  for  some 
family  papers.  I  have  replied  that  her  demand  is  both  impracti- 
cable and  indecent.  Be  sure  that  you  make  a  like  answer  if  she 
addresses  you  personally.  We  mean  to  leave  this  soon ;  but  are 
not  yet  certain  in  what  direction.     We  have  been  shamefully 


454  THE  BKAMLEIGH^  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

treated,  after  having  brought  this  troublesome  and  difficult  nego* 
tiation  to  a  successful  end.     We  shall  withdraw  our  proxy. 
"  '  Yours  ever,  in  much  affection, 

"  <  Marion  Culduff. 

"  'P.  S. —  You  have  heard,  I  suppose,  that  Culduff  has  presented 
L'Estrange  to  a  living.  It 's  not  in  a  hunting  county,  so  that  he 
will  not  be  exposed  to  temptation ;  nor  are  there  any  idle  young 
men,  and  Julia  may  also  enjoy  security.     Do  you  know  where  they 


They  laughed  long  and  heartily  over  this  postscript.  In- 
deed, it  amused  them  to  such  a  degree  that  they  forgot  all 
the  preceding  part  of  the  letter.  As  to  the  fact  of  the  pres- 
entation, none  believed  it.  Read  by  the  light  of  Cutbill's 
former  letter,  it  was  plain  enough  that  it  was  only  one  of 
those  pious  frauds  which  diplomacy  deals  in  as  largely  as 
Popery.  Marion,  they  were  sure,  supposed  she  was  record- 
ing a  fact ;  but  her  comments  on  the  fact  were  what  amused 
them  most. 

*'  I  wonder  am  I  a  flirt?  "  said  Julia,  gravely. 

*'  I  wonder  am  I  a  vicar?"  said  George;  and  once  more 
the  laughter  broke  out  fresh  and  hearty. 

"  Let  us  have  Cutbill  now,  Nelly.  It  will  be  in  a  different 
strain.  He 's  lengthy,  too.  He  not  only  writes  on  four,  but 
six  sides  of  note  paper  this  time." 

"  '  Dear  Bramleigh,  —  You  will  be  astonished  to  hear  that  I 
travelled  back  to  England  with  Count  Pracontal  or  Pracontal  de 
Bramleigh,  or  whatever  his  name  be  —  a  right  good  fellow,  frank, 
straightforward,  and,  so  far  as  I  see,  honest.  We  hit  it  off  won- 
derfully together,  and  became  such  good  friends  that  I  took  him 
down  to  my  little  crib  at  Bayswater,  —  an  attention,  I  suspect,  not 
ill  timed,  as  he  does  not  seem  flush  of  money.  He  told  me  the 
whole  story  of  his  claim,  and  the  way  he  came  first  to  know  that 
he  had  a  claim.  It  was  all  discovered  by  a  book,  a  sort  of  manu- 
script journal  of  his  great  grandfather's,  every  entry  of  which  he, 
Pracontal,  believes  to  be  true  as  the  Bible.  He  does  not  remember 
ever  to  have  seen  his  father,  though  he  may  have  done  so  before 
he  was  put  to  the  Naval  School  at  Genoa.  Of  his  mother,  he 
knows  nothing.  From  all  I  have  seen  of  him,  I  'd  say  that  you 
and  he  have  only  to  meet  to  become  warm  and  attached  friends ; 
and  it 's  a  thousand  pities  you  should  leave  to  law  and  lawyers 


THE  LETTER  BAG.  455 

what  a  little  forbearance,  and  a  little  patience,  and  a  disposition  to 
behave  generously  on  each  side  might  have  settled  at  once  and 
forever. 

"'In  this  journal  that  I  mentioned  there  were  two  pages 
gummed  together,  by  accident  or  design,  and  on  one  of  these  was 
a  sketch  of  a  female  figure  in  a  great  wreath  of  flowers,  standing 
on  a  sort  of  pedestal,  on  which  was  written,  —  "  Behind  this  stone 
I  have  deposited  books  or  documents."  I  'm  not  sure  of  the  exact 
words,  for  they  w^ere  in  Italian,  and  it  was  all  I  could  do  to  master 
the  meaning  of  the  inscription.  Now,  Pracontal  was  so  convinced 
that  these  papers  have  some  great  bearing  on  his  claim,  that  he 
asked  me  to  write  to  you  to  beg  permission  to  make  a  search  for 
them  under  the  painting  at  Castello,  of  which  this  rough  sketch  is 
evidently  a  study.  I  own  to  you  I  feel  little  of  that  confidence 
that  he  reposes  in  this  matter.  I  do  not  believe  in  the  existence  of 
the  papers,  nor  see  how,  if  there  were  any,  that  they  could  be  of 
consequence.  But  his  mind  was  so  full  of  it,  and  he  was  so  per- 
sistent in  saying,  "  If  I  thought  this  old  journal  could  mislead  me, 
I  'd  cease  to  believe  my  right  to  be  as  good  as  I  now  regard  it," 
that  I  thought  I  could  not  do  better,  in  your  interest,  than  to  take 
him  with  me  to  Sedley's,  to  see  w^hat  that  shrewd  old  fox  would 
say  to  him.  P.  agreed  at  once  to  go  ;  and,  what  pleased  me  much, 
never  thought  of  communicating  with  his  lawyer  nor  asking  his 
advice  on  the  step. 

" '  Though  I  took  the  precaution  to  call  on  Sedley,  and  tell  him 
what  sort  of  man  P.  was,  and  how  prudent  it  would  be  to  hear  him 
with  a  show  of  frankness  and  cordiality,  that  hard  old  dog  was  as 
stern  and  as  unbending  as  if  he  was  dealing  with  a  housebreaker. 
He  said  he  had  no  instructions  from  you  to  make  this  concession ; 
that,  though  he  himself  attached  not  the  slightest  importance  to 
any  paper  that  might  be  found,  were  he  to  be  consulted,  he  would 
unquestionably  refuse  this  permission ;  that  Mr.  Bramleigh  knew 
his  rights  too  well  to  be  disposed  to  encourage  persons  in  frivolous 
litigation ;  and  that  the  coming  trial  would  scatter  these  absurd 
pretensions  to  the  winds,  and  convince  M.  Pracontal  and  his 
friends  that  it  w^ould  be  better  to  address  himself  seriously  to  the 
business  of  life  than  pass  his  existence  in  prosecuting  a  hopeless 
and  impossible  claim. 

"  '  I  was  much  provoked  at  the  sort  of  lecturing  tone  the  old 
man  assumed,  and  struck  with  astonishment  at  the  good  temper 
and  good  breeding  with  which  the  other  took  it.  Only  once  he 
showed  a  slight  touch  of  resentment,  when  he  said,  "  Have  a  care, 
sir,  that,  while  disparaging  my  pretensions,  you  suffer  nothing  to 
escape  you  that  shall  reflect  on  the  honor  of  those  who  belong  to 
me.     I  will  overlook  everything  that  relates  to  me.     I  will  pardon 


456  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

nothing  that  insults  their  memory."  This  finished  the  interview, 
and  we  took  our  leave.  "  We  have  not  gained  much  by  this  step," 
said  Pracontal,  laughing,  as  we  left  the  house.  "  Will  you  now  con- 
sent to  write  to  Mr.  Bramleigh,  for  I  don't  believe  he  would  refuse 
my  request?"  I  told  him  I  would  take  a  night  to  think  over  it, 
and  on  the  same  evening  came  a  telegram  from  Ireland  to  say  that 
some  strange  discoveries  were  just  being  made  in  the  Lisconnor 
mine  ;  that  a  most  valuable  "  lode  "  had  been  artificially  closed  up, 
and  that  a  great  fraud  had  been  practised  to  depreciate  the  value 
of  the  mine,  and  throw  it  into  the  market  as  a  damaged  concern, 
while  its  real  worth  was  considerable.  They  desired  me  to  go  over 
at  once  and  report,  and  Pracontal,  knowing  that  I  should  be  only 
a  few  miles  from  Bishop's  Folly,  to  which  he  clings  with  an  attach- 
ment almost  incredible,  determined  to  accompany  me. 

"  '  I  have  no  means  of  even  guessing  how  long  I  may  be  de- 
tained in  Ireland  —  possibly  some  weeks ;  at  all  events  let  me 
have  a  line  to  say  you  will  give  me  this  permission.  I  say,  "  give 
me  "  because  I  shall  strictly  confine  the  investigation  to  the  limits 
I  myself  think  requisite,  and  in  reality  use  the  search  as  one  means 
of  testing  what  importance  may  attach  to  this  journal,  on  which 
Pracontal  relies  so  implicitly ;  and  in  the  event  of  the  failure  — 
that  I  foresee  and  would  risk  a  bet  upon  —  I  would  employ  the 
disappointment  as  a  useful  agent  in  dissuading  Pracontal  from 
farther  pursuit. 

"  '  I  strongly  urge  you,  therefore,  not  to  withhold  this  permission. 
It  seems  rash  to  say  that  a  man  ought  to  furnish  his  antagonist 
with  a  weapon  to  fight  him  ;  but  you  have  always  declared  you 
want  nothing  but  an  honest,  fair  contest,  wherein  the  best  man 
should  win.  You  have  also  said  to  me  that  you  often  doubted 
your  own  actual  sincerity.  You  can  test  it  now,  and  by  a  touch- 
stone that  cannot  deceive.  If  you  say  to  Pracontal,  "  There  's  the 
key,  go  in  freely ;  there  is  nothing  to  hide  —  nothing  to  fear,"  you 
wiU  do  more  to  strengthen  the  ground  you  stand  on  than  by  all 
the  eloquence  of  your  lawyer ;  and  if  I  know  anything  of  this 
Frenchman,  he  is  not  the  man  to  make  an  ill  requital  to  such  a 
generous  confidence.  Whatever  you  decide  on,  reply  at  once.  I 
have  no  time  for  more,  but  will  take  my  letter  with  me  and  add  a 
line  when  I  reach  Ireland. 

"  '  Lisconnor,  Friday  Night. 
" '  They  M^ere  quite  right ;  there  was  a  most  audacious  fraud 
concocted,  and  a  few  days  will  enable  me  to  expose  it  thoroughly. 
I  'm  glad  Lord  Culduff  had  nothing  to  say  to  it,  but  more  for  your 
sake  than  his.  The  L'Estranges  are  safe ;  they  '11  have  every 
shilling  of  their  money,  and  with  a  premium,  too.' " 


THE  LETTER  BAG.  457 

Nelly  laid  down  the  letter  and  looked  over  to  where 
George  and  his  sister  sat,  still  and  motionless.  It  was  a 
moment  of  deep  feeling  and  intense  relief,  but  none  could 
utter  a  word.     At  last  Julia  said,  — 

"  What  a  deal  of  kindness  there  is  in  that  man,  and  how 
hard  we  felt  it  to  believe  it,  just  because  he  was  vulgar.  I 
declare  I  believe  we  must  be  more  vulgar  still  to  attach  so 
much  to  form  and  so  little  to  fact." 

''  There  is  but  one  line  more,"  said  Nelly,  turning  over  the 
page. 

" '  Pracontal  has  lost  all  his  spirits.  He  has  been  over  to  see  a 
place  belonging  to  a  Mr.  Longworth  here,  and  has  come  back  so 
sad  and  depressed  as  though  the  visit  had  renewed  some  great  sor- 
row. We  have  not  gone  to  Bishop's  Folly  yet,  but  mean  to  drive 
over  there  to-morrow.  Once  more,  write  to  me. 
"  *  Yours  ever, 

"  '  T.  CUTBILL.'  " 

"  I  shall  not  give  this  permission,"  said  Bramleigh,  thought- 
fully. ''  Sedley's  opinion  is  decidedly  adverse,  and  I  shall 
abide  by  it." 

Now,  though  he  said  these  words  with  an  air  of  apparent 
determination,  he  spoke  in  reality  to  provoke  discussion  and 
hear  what  others  might  say.  None,  however,  spoke,  and  he 
waited  some  minutes. 

"  I  wish  you  would  say  if  you  agree  with  me,"  cried  he  at 
last. 

"I  suspect  very  few  would  give  the  permission,"  said 
Julia,  "  but  that  you  are  one  of  that  few  I  believe  also." 

*'  Yes,  Gusty,"  said  Nelly.  "  Refuse  it,  and  what  be- 
comes of  that  fair  spirit  in  which  you  have  so  often  said  you 
desired  to  meet  this  issue  ?  " 

"What  does  George  say?"  asked  Bramleigh.  "Let's 
hear  the  Church." 

"  Well,"  said  L'Estrange,  in  that  hesitating,  uncertain 
way  he  usually  spoke  in,  "  if  a  man  were  to  say  to  me,  '  I 
think  I  gave  you  a  sovereign  too  much  in  change  just  now. 
Will  you  search  your  purse,  and  see  if  I'm  not  right?'  I 
suppose  I'd  do  so." 

' '  And  of  course  you  mean  that  if  the  restitution  rose  to 


458  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

giving  back  some  thousands  a  year,  it  would  be  all  the 
same  ?  "  said  Julia. 

•'  It  would  be  harder  to  do,  perhaps  — of  course  ;  I  mean 
—  but  I  hope  I  could  do  it." 

"And  /,"  said  Bramleigh,  in  a  tone  that  vibrated  with 
feeling,  "  /hoped  a  few  days  back  that  no  test  to  my  honesty 
or  my  sincerity  would  have  been  too  much  for  me  —  that  all  I 
asked  or  cared  for  was  that  the  truth  should  prevail  —  I  find 
myself  now  prevaricating  with  myself,  hair-splitting,  and 
asking  have  I  a  right  to  do  this,  that,  or  t'other?  I  declare 
to  heaven,  when  a  man  takes  refuge  in  that  self-put  question, 
'  Have  I  the  right  to  do  something  that  inclination  tells  me 
not  to  do? '  he  is  nearer  a  contemptible  action  than  he  knows 
of.  And  is  there  not  one  here  will  say  that  I  ought,  or 
ought  not,  to  refuse  this  request?" 

"  I  do  not  suppose  such  a  request  was  ever  made  before," 
said  L'Estrange.  "  There  lies  the  real  difficulty  of  deciding 
v^hat  one  should  do." 

"  Here 's  a  note  from  Mr.  Sedley,"  cried  Nelly.  "  Is  it  not 
possible  that  it  may  contain  something  that  will  guide  us?  " 

"  By  all  means  read  Sedley,"  said  Bramleigh.  And  she 
opened  and  read  :  — 

"  '  Dear  Sir,  — 

"  '  A  Mr.  Cutbill  presented  himself  to  me  here  last  week,  alleg- 
ing he  was  an  old  and  intimate  friend  of  yours,  and  showing 
unquestionable  signs  of  being  w^ell  acquainted  with  yom'  affairs. 
He  was  accompanied  by  INI.  Pracontal,  and  came  to  request  per- 
mission to  make  searches  at  Castello  for  certain  documents  which  he 
declared  to  be  of  great  importance  to  the  establishment  of  his  claim. 
I  will  not  stop  to  say  what  I  thought,  or  indeed  said,  of  such  a 
proposal,  exceeding  in  effrontery  anything  I  had  ever  listened  to. 

'* '  Of  course  I  not  only  refused  this  permission,  but  declared  I 
would  immediately  write  to  you,  imploring  you,  on  no  account  or 
through  any  persuasion,  to  yield  to  it. 

"'They  left  me,  and  apparently  so  disconcerted  and  dissuaded  by 
my  reception  that  I  did  not  believe  it  necessary  to  address  you  on 
the  subject.  To  my  amazement,  however,  I  learn  from  Kelson 
this  morning  that  they  actually  did  gain  entrance  to  the  house,  and, 
by  means  which  I  have  not  yet  ascertained,  prosecuted  the  search 
they  desired,  and  actually  discovered  the  church  registers  of  Port- 
shandon,  in  one  page  of  which  is  the  entry  of  the  marriage  of 


THE   LETTER  BAG.  459 

Montague  Bramleigh  and  Enrichetta  Lami,  with  the  name  of  the 
officiating  clergyman  and  the  attendant  witnesses.  Kelson  for- 
wards me  a  copy  of  this,  while  inviting  me  to  inspect  the  original. 
My  first  step,  however,  has  been  to  take  measures  to  proceed 
against  these  persons  for  robbery ;  and  I  have  sent  over  one  of  my 
clerks  to  Ireland  to  obtain  due  information  as  to  the  events  that 
occurred,  and  to  institute  proceedings  immediately.  I  do  not 
believe  that  they  committed  a  burglary,  but  it  was  a  felonious 
entry  all  the  same. 

"  '  The  important  fact,  however,  lies  in  this  act  of  registration, 
which,  however  fraudulently  obtained,  will  be  formidable  evidence 
on  a  trial.  You  are  certainly  not  happy  in  your  choice  of  friends, 
if  this  Mr.  Cutbill  be  one  of  them  ;  but  I  hope  no  false  sentiment 
will  induce  you  to  step  between  this  man  and  his  just  punishment. 
He  has  done  you  an  ii-reparable  mischief,  and  by  means  the  most 
shameful  and  inexcusable.  I  call  the  mischief  irreparable,  since, 
looking  to  the  line  of  argument  adopted  by  our  leading  counsel  on 
the  last  trial,  the  case  chiefly  turned  on  the  discredit  that  attached 
to  this  act  of  marriage.  I  cannot  therefore  exaggerate  the  mis- 
chief this  discovery  has  brought  us.  You  must  come  over  at  once. 
The  delay  incurred  by  letter-writing,  and  the  impossibility  of 
profiting  by  any  new  turn  events  may  take,  renders  your  presence 
here  essential,  and  without  it  I  declare  I  cannot  accept  any  further 
responsibility  in  this  case. 

" '  A  very  flippant  note  from  Mr.  Cutbill  has  just  reached  me.  He 
narrates  the  fact  of  the  discovered  books,  and  says,  "  It  is  not  too 
late  for  B.  to  make  terms.  Send  for  him  at  once,  and  say  that 
Count  P.  has  no  desire  to  push  him  to  the  wall."  It  is  very  hard 
to  stomach  this  man's  impertinence,  but  I  hesitate  now  as  to  what 
course  to  take  regarding  him.  Let  me  hear  by  telegraph  that  you 
are  coming  over  :  for  I  repeat  that  I  will  not  engage  myself  to 
assume  the  full  responsibility  of  the  case,  or  take  any  decisive  step 
without  your  sanction.' 

"What  could  Cutbill  mean  by  such  conduct?"  cried 
Nelly.  "  Do  you  understand  it  at  all,  Gusty?  "  Bramleigh 
merely  shook  his  head  in  token  of  negative. 

"  It  all  came  of  the  man's  meddlesome  disposition,"  said 
Julia.  "  The  mischievous  people  of  the  world  are  not  the 
malevolent  — they  only  do  harm  with  an  object :  but  the 
meddling  creatures  are  at  it  day  and  night,  scattering  seeds 
of  trouble  out  of  very  idleness." 

"  Ju's  right,"  said  George ;  but  in  such  a  tone  of  habitual 
approval  that  set  all  the  rest  laughing. 


460  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

''  I  need  not  discuss  the  question  of  permitting  the 
search,"  said  Bramleigh ;  "  these  gentlemen  have  saved  me 
that.  The  only  point  now  open  is,  shall  I  go  over  to  Eng- 
land or  not?" 

''Go  by  all  means,"  said  Julia,  eagerly.  "  Mr.  Sedley's 
advice  cannot  be  gainsaid." 

''  But  it  seems  to  me  our  case  is  lost,"  said  he,  as  his  eyes 
turned  to  Nelly,  whose  face  expressed  deep  sorrow. 

''  I  fear  so,"  said  she,  in  a  faint  whisper. 

"  Then  why  ask  me  to  leave  this,  and  throw  myself  into  a 
hopeless  contest?  Why  am  I  to  quit  this  spot,  where  I  have 
found  peace  and  contentment,  to  encounter  the  struggle 
that,  even  with  all  my  conviction  of  failure,  will  still  move 
me  to  hope  and  expectancy  ?  " 

"Just  because  a  brave  soldier  fights  even  after  defeat 
seems  certain,"  said  Julia.  "  More  than  one  battle  has  been 
won  from  those  who  had  already  despatched  news  of  then- 
victory." 

"You  may  laugh  at  me,  if  you  like,"  said  L'Estrange, 
"  but  Julia  is  right  there."  And  they  did  laugh,  and  the 
laughter  was  so  far  good  that  it  relieved  the  terrible  tension 
of  their  nerves,  and  rallied  them  back  to  ease  and  quietude. 

"  I  see,"  said  Bramleigh,  "  that  you  all  think  I  ought  to 
go  over  to  England ;  and  though  none  of  you  can  know  what 
it  will  cost  me  in  feeling,  I  will  go." 

"  There's  a  messenger  from  the  Podesta  of  Cattaro  wait- 
ing all  this  time.  Gusty,  to  know  about  this  English  sailor 
they  have  arrested.  The  authorities  desire  to  learn  if  you 
will  take  him  off  their  hands." 

"George  is  my  vice-consul.  He  shall  deal  with  him," 
said  Bramleigh,  laughing,  "  for  as  the  steamer  touches  at 
two  o'clock,  I  shall  be  run  sharp  to  catch  her.  If  any  one 
will  help  me  to  pack,  I '11  be  more  than  grateful." 

"We'll  do  it  in  a  committee  of  the  whole  house,"  said 
Julia,  "  for  when  a  man's  trunk  is  once  corded  he  never  goes 
back  of  his  journey." 


CHAPTER  LV. 

THE    PRISONER   AT   CATTARO. 

So  much  occupied  and  interested  were  the  little  household 
of  the  villa  in  Bramleigh's  departure  —  there  were  so  many 
things  to  be  done,  so  many  things  to  be  remembered  —  that 
L'Estrange  never  once  thought  of  the  messenger  from  the 
Podesta,  who  still  waited  patiently  for  his  answer. 

''  I  declare,"  said  Julia,  "  that  poor  man  is  still  standing 
in  the  hall.  For  pity's  sake,  George,  give  him  some  answer, 
and  send  him  away." 

"But  what  is  the  answer  to  be,  Ju?  I  have  not  the 
faintest  notion  of  how  these  cases  are  dealt  with." 

"  Let  us  look  over  what  that  great  book  of  instructions 
says.  I  used  to  read  a  little  of  it  every  day  when  we 
came  first,  and  I  worried  Mr.  Bramleigh  so  completely 
with  my  superior  knowledge  that  he  carried  it  off  and 
hid  it." 

*•'  Oh,  I  remember  now.  He  told  me  he  had  left  it  at  the 
consulate,  for  that  you  were  positively  driving  him  distracted 
with  official  details." 

"  How  ungrateful  men  are !  They  never  know  what  good 
'  nagging '  does  them.  It  is  the  stimulant  that  converts 
half  the  sluggish  people  in  the  world  into  reasonably  active 
individuals." 

"  Perhaps  we  are  occasionally  over-stimulated,"  said 
George,  dryly. 

"If  so,  it  is  by  your  own  vanity.  Men  are  spoiled  by 
their  fellow-men,  and  not  by  women.  There,  now,  you 
look  very  much  puzzled  at  that  paradox  —  as  you  'd  like  to 
call  it  —  but  go  away  and  think  over  it,  and  say  this  evening 
if  I'm  not  right." 


462  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   iOLLY. 

'^  Very  likely  you  are,"  said  he,  in  his  indolent  way  ;  "  but 
■whether  or  not,  you  always  beat  me  in  a  discussion." 

"And  this  letter  from  the  Podesta ;  who  is  to  reply,  or 
what  is  the  reply  to  be?  " 

"  Well,"  said  he,  after  a  pause,  "  I  think  of  the  two  I  'd 
rather  speak  bad  Italian  than  write  it.  I  '11  go  down  and  see 
the  Podesta." 

"  There  's  zeal  and  activity,"  said  Julia,  laughing. 
"  Never  disparage  the  system  of  nagging  after  that.  Poor 
George,"  said  she  as  she  looked  after  him  while  he  set  out 
for  Cattaro,  "he'd  have  a  stouter  heart  to  ride  a  six-foot 
wall  than  for  the  interview  that  is  now  before  him." 

"  And  yet,"  said  Nelly,  "  it  was  only  a  moment  ago  you 
were  talking  to  him  about  his  vanity." 

"  And  I  might  as  well  have  talked  about  his  wealth.  But 
you  'd  spoil  him,  Nelly,  if  I  was  n't  here  to  prevent  it.  These 
Indolent  men  get  into  the  way  of  believing  that  languor  and 
laziness  are  good  temper;  and  as  George  is  really  a  fine- 
hearted  fellow,  I  'm  angry  when  he  falls  back  upon  his 
lethargy  for  his  character,  instead  of  trusting,  as  he  could 
and  as  he  ought,  to  his  good  qualities." 

Nelly  blushed,  but  it  was  with  pleasure.  This  praise  of 
one  she  liked  —  liked  even  better  than  she  herself  knew  — 
was  intense  enjoyment  to  her. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  L'Estrange,  who  strolled  along  towards 
Cattaro  —  now  stopping  to  gather  the  wild  anemones  which, 
in  every  splendid  variety  of  color,  decked  the  sward  —  now 
loitering  to  gaze  at  the  blue  sea,  which  lay  still  and  motion- 
less at  his  feet.  There  was  that  voluptuous  sense  of  languor 
in  the  silence  —  the  loaded  perfume  of  the  air  —  the  drowsy 
hum  of  insect  life  —  the  faint  plash  with  which  the  sea,  un- 
stirred by  wind,  washed  the  shore  —  that  harmonized  to 
perfection  with  his  own  nature ;  and  could  he  but  have  had 
Nelly  at  his  side  to  taste  the  happiness  with  him,  he  would 
have  deemed  it  exquisite,  for,  poor  fellow,  he  was  in  love 
after  his  fashion.  It  was  not  an  ardent  impulsive  passion, 
but  it  consumed  him  slowly  and  certainly,  all  the  same.  He 
knew  well  that  his  present  life  of  indolence  and  inactivity 
could  not,  ought  not,  to  continue  —  that  without  some 
prompt  effort  on  his  part,  his  means  of  subsistence  would  be 


THE  PRISONER  AT   CATTARO.  463 

soon  exhausted ;  but  as  the  sleeper  begs  that  he  may  be 
left  to  slumber  on,  and  catch  up,  if  he  may,  the  dream  that 
has  just  been  broken,  he  seemed  to  entreat  of  fate  a  little 
longer  of  the  delicious  trance  in  which  he  now  was  living. 
His  failures  in  life  had  deepened  in  him  that  sense  of  humil- 
ity which  in  coarse  natures  turns  to  misanthropy,  but  in  men 
of  finer  mould  makes  them  gentle,  and  submissive,  and  im- 
pressionable. His  own  humble  opinion  of  himself  deprived 
him  of  all  hope  of  winning  Nelly's  affection,  but  he  saw  — 
or  he  thought  he  saw  —  in  her  that  love  of  simple  pleasures 
and  of  a  life  removed  from  all  ambitions,  that  led  him  to 
believe  she  would  not  regard  his  pretensions  with  disdain. 
And  then  he  felt  that,  thrown  together  into  that  closer  inti- 
macy their  poverty  had  brought  about,  he  had  maintained 
towards  her  a  studious  deference  and  respect  which  had 
amounted  almost  to  coldness,  for  he  dreaded  that  she  should 
think  he  would  have  adventured,  in  their  fallen  fortunes,  on 
what  he  would  never  have  dared  in  their  high  and  palmy 
days. 

*'  Well,"  said  he,  aloud,  as  he  looked  at  the  small  frag- 
ment of  an  almost  finished  cigar,  "  I  suppose  it  is  nigh  over 
now  !  I  shall  have  to  go  and  seek  my  fortune  in  Queensland, 
or  New  Zealand,  or  some  far-away  country,  and  all  I  shall 
carry  with  me  will  be  the  memory  of  this  dream  —  for  it  is  a 
dream  —  of  our  life  here.  I  wonder  shall  I  ever,  as  I  have 
seen  other  men,  throw  myself  into  my  work,  and  efface  the 
thought  of  myself,  and  of  my  own  poor  weak  nature,  in  the 
higher  interests  that  will  press  on  me  for  action." 

What  should  he  do  if  men  came  to  him  for  guidance, 
or  counsel,  or  consolation.  Could  he  play  the  hypocrite, 
and  pretend  to  give  what  he  had  not  got?  or  tell  them 
to  trust  to  what  he  bitterly  knew  was  not  the  sustaining 
principle  of  his  own  life?  ''This  shall  be  so  no  longer," 
cried  he;  "if  I  cannot  go  heart  and  soul  into  my  work, 
I  '11  turn  farmer  or  fisherman.  I  '11  be  what  I  can  be 
without  shame  and  self-reproach.  One  week  more  of  this 
happiness  —  one  week  —  and  I  vow  to  tear  myself  from 
it  forever." 

As  he  thus  muttered,  he  found  himself  in  the  narrow  street 
that  led  into  the  centre  of  the  little  town,  which,  blocked  up 


464  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

by  fruit-stalls  and  fish-baskets,  required  all  his  address  to 
navigate.  The  whole  population,  too,  were  screaming  out 
their  wares  in  the  shrill  cries  of  the  South,  and  invitations 
to  buy  were  blended  with  droll  sarcasms  on  rival  productions 
and  jeering  comments  on  the  neighbors.  Though  full  of 
deference  for  the  unmistakable  signs  of  gentleman  in  his 
appearance,  they  did  not  the  less  direct  their  appeals  to  him 
as  he  passed,  and  the  flatteries  on  his  handsome  face  and 
graceful  figure  mingled  with  the  praises  of  whatever  they 
had  to  sell. 

Half  amused,  but  not  a  little  flurried  by  all  the  noise  and 
tumult  around  him,  L'Estrange  made  his  way  through  the 
crowd  till  he  reached  the  dingy  entrance  which  led  to  the 
still  dingier  stair  of  the  Podesta's  residence. 

L'Estrange  had  scarcely  prepared  the  speech  in  which  he 
should  announce  himself  as  charged  with  consular  functions, 
when  he  found  himself  in  presence  of  a  very  dirty  little  man, 
with  spectacles  and  a  skull-cap,  whose  profuse  civilities  and 
ceremonious  courtesies  actually  overwhelmed  him.  He 
assured  L'Estrange  that  there  were  no  words  in  Italian  — 
nor  even  in  German,  for  he  spoke  in  both  —  which  could 
express  a  fractional  part  of  the  affliction  he  experienced  in 
enforcing  measures  that  savored  of  severity  on  a  subject  of 
that  great  nation  which  had  so  long  been  the  faithful  friend 
and  ally  of  the  imperial  house.  On  this  happy  political 
union  it  was  clear  he  had  prepared  himself  historically,  for 
he  gave  a  rapid  sketch  of  the  first  empire,  and  briefly  threw 
off  a  spirited  description  of  the  disastrous  consequences  of  the 
connection  with  France,  and  the  passing  estrangement  from 
Great  Britain.  By  this  time,  what  between  the  difficulties 
of  a  foreign  tongue,  and  a  period  with  which  the  poor  parson 
was  not,  historically,  over  conversant,  he  was  completely 
mystified  and  bewildered.  At  last  the  great  functionary 
condescended  to  become  practical.  He  proceeded  to  narrate 
that  an  English  sailor,  who  had  been  landed  at  Ragusa  by 
some  Greek  coasting-vessel,  had  come  over  on  foot  to  Cat- 
taro  to  find  his  consul  as  a  means  of  obtaining  assistance  to 
reach  England.  There  were,  however,  suspicious  ckcum- 
stances  about  the  man  that  warranted  the  police  in  arresting 
him  and  carrying  him  off  to  prison.     First  of  all,  he  was 


THE  PRISONER  AT  CATTARO-  465 

very  poor,  almost  in  rags,  and  emaciated  to  a  degree  little 
short  of  starvation.  These  were  signs  that  vouched  little 
for  a  man's  character;  indeed,  the  Podesta  thought  them 
damaging  in  the  last  degree;  but  there  were  others  still 
worse.  There  were  marks  on  his  wrists  and  ankles  which 
showed  he  had  lately  worn  manacles  and  fetters  —  unmis- 
takable marks  :  marks  which  the  practised  eye  of  gendarmes 
had  declared  must  have  been  produced  by  the  heavy  chains 
worn  by  galley-slaves,  so  that  the  man  was,  without  doubt, 
an  escaped  convict,  and  might  be,  in  consequence,  a  very 
dangerous  individual. 

As  the  prisoner  spoke  neither  Italian  nor  German,  there 
was  no  means  of  interrogating  him.  They  had  therefore 
limited  themselves  to  taking  him  into  custody,  and  now  held 
him  at  the  disposal  of  the  consular  authority,  to  deal  with 
him  as  it  might  please. 

"  May  I  see  him?"  asked  L'Estrange. 

"  By  all  means ;  he  is  here.  We  have  had  him  brought 
from  the  prison  awaiting  your  Excellency's  arrival.  Perhaps 
you  would  like  to  have  him  handcuffed  before  he  is  intro- 
duced.    The  brigadier  recommends  it." 

"No,  no.  If  the  poor  creature  be  in  the  condition  you 
tell  me,  he  cannot  be  dangerous."  And  the  stalwart  curate 
threw  a  downward  look  at  his  own  brawny  proportions  with 
a  satisfied  smile  that  did  not  show  much  fear. 

The  brigadier  whispered  something  in  the  Podesta's  ear  in 
a  low  tone,  and  the  great  man  then  said  aloud —  "  He  tells 
me  that  he  could  slip  the  handcuffs  on  him  now  quite  easily, 
for  the  prisoner  is  sound  asleep,  and  so  overcome  by  fatigue 
that  he  hears  nothing." 

"  No,  no,"  reiterated  L'Estrange.  "  Let  us  have  no  hand- 
cuffs ;  and  with  your  good  permission,  too,  I  would  ask 
another  favor:  let  the  poor  fellow  take  his  sleep  out.  It 
will  be  quite  time  enough  for  me  to  see  him  when  he 
awakes." 

The  Podesta  turned  a  look  of  mingled  wonder  and  pity  on 
the  man  who  could  show  such  palpable  weakness  in  official 
life ;  but  he  evidently  felt  he  could  not  risk  his  dignity  by 
concurrence  in  such  a  line  of  conduct. 

"  If  your  Excellency,"  said  he,  "  tells  me  it  is  in  this  wise 

30 


466  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

prisoners  are  treated  in  your  country,  I  have  no  more  to 
say." 

"Well,  well;  let  him  be  brought  up,"  said  L'Estrauge, 
hastily,  and  more  than  ever  anxious  to  get  free  of  this 
Austrian  Dogberry. 

Nothing  more  was  said  on  either  side  while  the  brigadier 
went  down  to  bring  up  the  prisoner.  The  half  darkened 
room,  the  stillness,  the  mournful  ticking  of  a  clock  that 
made  the  silence  more  significant,  all  impressed  L'Estrange 
with  a  mingled  feeling  of  weariness  and  depression ;  and 
that  strange  melancholy  that  steals  over  men  at  times,  when 
all  the  events  of  human  life  seem  sad-colored  and  dreary, 
now  crept  over  him,  when  the  shuffling  sounds  of  feet,  and 
the  clanging  of  a  heavy  sabre,  apprised  him  that  the  escort 
was  approaching. 

"We  have  no  treaty  with  any  of  the  Italian  Govern- 
ments," said  the  Podesta,  "  for  extradition;  and  if  the  man 
be  a  galley-slave,  as  we  suspect,  we  throw  all  the  responsi- 
bility of  his  case  on  you."  As  he  spoke,  the  door  opened, 
and  a  young  man  with  a  blue  flannel  shirt  and  linen  trousers 
entered,  freeing  himself  from  the  hands  of  the  gendarmes 
with  a  loose  shake,  as  though  to  say,  "  In  presence  of  my 
countrymen  in  authority,  I  owe  no  submission  to  these." 
He  leaned  on  the  massive  rail  that  formed  a  sort  of  barrier 
in  the  room,  and  with  one  hand  pushed  back  the  long  hair 
that  fell  heavily  over  his  face. 

"  What  account  do  you  give  of  yourself,  my  man?  "  said 
L'Estrange,  in  a  tone  half-commanding,  half-encouraging. 

"I  have  come  here  to  ask  my  consul  to  send  me  on  to 
England,  or  to  some  seaport  where  I  may  find  a  British 
vessel,"  said  the  man,  and  his  voice  was  husky  and  weak,  like 
that  of  one  just  out  of  illness. 

"  How  did  you  come  to  these  parts?  "  asked  L'Estrange. 

"  I  was  picked  up  at  sea  by  a  Greek  trabaccolo,  and 
landed  at  Antivari ;  the  rest  of  the  way  I  came  on  foot." 

' '  Were  you  cast  away  ?  or  how  came  it  that  you  were 
picked  up?" 

"  I  made  my  escape  from  the  Bagni  at  Ischia.  I  had 
been   a   galley-slave   there."     The   bold   effrontery  of    the 


THE  PRISONER  AT   CATTARO.  467 

declaration  was  made  still  more  startling  by  a  sort  of  low 
laugh  which  followed  his  words. 

"  You  seem  to  think  it  a  light  matter  to  have  been  at  the 
galleys,  my  friend,"  said  L'Estrange,  half  reprovingly. 
''  How  did  it  happen  that  an  Englishman  should  be  in  such 
a  discreditable  position  ?  " 

"  It 's  a  long  story  —  too  long  for  a  hungry  man  to  tell," 
said  the  sailor;  "perhaps  too  long  for  your  own  patience 
to  listen  to.  At  all  events,  it  has  no  bearing  on  my  present 
condition." 

"I'm  not  so  sure  of  that,  my  good  fellow.  Men  are 
seldom  sentenced  to  the  galleys  for  light  offences ;  and  I  'd 
like  to  know  something  of  the  man ^ I'm  called  on  to  be- 
friend." 

"  I  make  you  the  same  answer  I  gave  before  —  the  story 
would  take  more  time  than  I  have  well  strength  for.  Do 
you  know,"  said  he,  earnestly,  and  in  a  voice  of  touching 
significance,  "it  is  twenty-eight  hours  since  I  have  tasted 
food?" 

L'Estrange  leaned  forward  in  his  chair,  like  one  expecting 
to  hear  more,  and  eager  to  catch  the  words  aright ;  and  then 
rising,  walked  over  to  the  rail  where  the  prisoner  stood. 
"  You  have  not  told  me  your  name,"  said  he,  in  a  voice  of 
kindly  meaning. 

"  I  have  been  called  Sam  Rogers  for  some  time  back  ;  and 
I  mean  to  be  Sam  Rogers  a  little  longer." 

' '  But  it  is  not  your  real  name  ? "  asked  L'Estrange, 
eagerly. 

The  other  made  no  reply  for  some  seconds ;  and  then, 
moving  his  hand  carelessly  through  his  hair,  said,  in  a  half- 
reckless  way,  "  I  declare,  sir,  I  can't  see  what  you  have  to 
do  with  my  name,  whether  I  be  Sam  Rogers,  or  —  or  — 
anything  else  I  choose  to  call  myself.  To  you  —  I  believe, 
at  least  —  to  you  I  am  simply  a  distressed  British  sailor. " 

"And  you  are  Jack  Bramleigh?"  said  L'Estrange,  in  a 
low  tone,  scarcely  above  a  whisper,  while  he  grasped  the 
sailor's  hands,  and  shook  them  warmly. 

"And  who  are  you?"  said  Jack,  in  a  voice  shaken  and 
faltering. 


468  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  Don't  you  know  me,  my  poor  dear  fellow?  Don't  you 
remember  George  L'Estrange  ?  " 

What  between  emotion  and  debility,  this  speech  unmanned 
him  so  that  he  staggered  back  a  couple  of  paces,  and  sank 
down  heavily,  not  fainting,  but  too  weak  to  stand,  too  much 
overcome  to  utter. 


CHAPTER  LVI. 

AT  LADY  Augusta's. 

"  The  Count  Pracontal,  my  Lady,"  said  a  very  grave-look- 
ing groom  of  the  chambers,  as  Lady  Augusta  sat  watching 
a  small  golden  squirrel  swinging  by  his  tail  from  the  branch 
of  a  camellia  tree. 

"Say  I  am  engaged,  Hislop  —  particularly  engaged.  I 
do  not  receive  —  or,  wait;  tell  him  I  am  much  occupied, 
but  if  he  is  quite  sure  his  visit  shall  not  exceed  five  minutes, 
he  may  come  in." 

Count  Pracontal  seemed  as  though  the  permission  had 
reached  his  own  ears,  for  he  entered  almost  immediately, 
and,  bowing  deeply  and  deferentially,  appeared  to  wait 
leave  to  advance  further  into  the  room. 

*'  Let  me  have  my  chocolate,  Hislop;  "  and,  as  the  man 
withdrew,  she  pointed  to  a  chair,  and  said,  "  There.  When 
did  you  come  back  ?  " 

Pracontal,  however,  had  dropped  on  his  knee  before  her, 
and  pressed  her  hand  to  his  lips  with  a  fervid  devotion,  say- 
ing, "  How  I  have  longed  and  waited  for  this  moment !  " 

"  I  shall  ring  the  bell,  sir,  if  you  do  not  be  seated  imme- 
diately.    I  asked  when  you  returned  ?  " 

"  An  hour  ago,  my  Lady  —  less  than  an  hour  ago.  I  did 
not  dare  to  write ;  and  then  I  wished  to  be  myself  the  bearer 
of  my  own  good  news." 

''  What  good  news  are  these? " 


470  THE  BEAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

*'Tbat  I  have,  if  not  won  my  suit,  secured  the  victory. 
The  registries  have  been  discovered  —  found  in  the  very 
spot  indicated  in  the  journal.  The  entries  are  complete ; 
and  nothing  is  wanting  to  establish  the  legality  of  the  mar- 
riage. Oh,  I  entreat  you,  do  not  listen  to  me  so  coldly ! 
You  know  well  for  what  reason  I  prize  this  success.  You 
know  well  what  gives  its  brightest  lustre  in  my  eyes." 

"  Pray  be  narrative  now  —  the  emotional  can  be  kept  for 
some  other  time.     Who  says  that  this  means  success  ?  " 

"My  laTV'Ver,  Mr.  Kelson.  He  calls  the  suit  won.  He 
proves  his  belief,  for  he  has  advanced  me  money  to  pay  off 
my  debt  to  Longworth,  and  to  place  me  in  a  position  of 
ease  and  comfort." 

"  And  what  is  Kelson ;  is  he  one  of  the  judges  ?  " 

"Of  course  not.  He  is  one  of  the  leading  solicitors  of 
London;  a  very  grave,  thoughtful,  cautious  man.  I  have 
shown  you  many  of  his  letters.     You  must  remember  him." 

"  No ;  I  never  remember  people ;  that  is,  if  they  have  not 
personally  interested  me.  I  think  you  have  grown  thin. 
You  look  as  if  you  had  been  ill." 

"I  have  fretted  a  good  deal,  — worried  myself;  and  my 
anxiety  about  you  has  made  me  sleepless  and  feverish." 

"About  me!     Why,  I  was  never  better  in  my  life." 

"Your  looks  say  as  much;  but  I  meant  my  anxiety  to 
lay  my  tidings  at  your  feet,  and  with  them  myself  and  my 
whole  future." 

"You  may  leave  the  chocolate  there,  Hislop,"  as  the  man 
entered  with  the  tray ;  "  unless  Count  Pracoutal  would  like 
some." 

"Thanks,  my  Lady,"  said  he,  bowing  his  refusal. 

"You  are  wrong,  then,"  said  she,  as  the  servant  with- 
drew. "Hislop  makes  it  with  the  slightest  imaginable 
flavor  of  the  cherry  laurel;  and  it  is  most  soothing.  Is  n't 
he  a  love?" 

*'Hislop?" 

*'No,  my  darling  squirrel  yonder.  The  poor  dear  has 
been  ill  these  two  days.  He  bit  Sir  Marcus  Cluff,  and  that 
horrid  creature  seems  to  have  disagreed  with  the  darling, 
for  he  has  pined  ever  since.  Don't  caress  him;  he  hates 
men,  except  Monsignore  Alberti,  whom,  probably,  he  mis- 


AT  LADY  AUGUSTA'S.  471 

takes  for  an  old  lady.     And  what  becomes  of  all  the  Bram- 
leighs  —  are  they  left  penniless  ?  " 

"By  no  means.  I  do  not  intend  to  press  my  claim 
farther  than  the  right  to  the  estates.  I  am  not  going  to 
proceed  for  —  I  forget  the  legal  word  —  the  accumulated 
profits.  Indeed,  if  Mr.  Bramleigh  be  only  animated  by 
the  spirit  I  have  heard  attributed  to  him,  there  is  no  con- 
cession that  I  am  not  disposed  to  make  him." 

"What  droll  people  Frenchmen  are!  They  dash  their 
morality,  like  their  cookery,  with  something  discrepant. 
They  fancy  it  means  'piquancy.'  What,  in  the  name  of  all 
romance,  have  you  to  do  with  the  Bramleighs?  Why  all 
this  magnanimity  for  people  who  certainly  have  been  keep- 
ing you  out  of  what  was  your  own,  and  treating  your  claim 
to  it  as  a  knavery  ?  " 

"You  might  please  to  remember  that  we  are  related." 

"Of  course  you  are  nothing  of  the  kind.  If  you  be  the 
true  prince,  the  others  must  be  all  illegitimate  a  couple  of 
generations  back.  Perhaps  I  am  imbittered  against  them 
by  that  cruel  fraud  practised  on  myself.  I  cannot  bring 
myself  to  forgive  it.  Now,  if  you  really  were  that  fine 
generous  creature  you  want  me  to  believe,  it  is  of  me^  of 
me,  Lady  Augusta  Bramleigh,  you  would  be  thinking  all 
this  while :  how  to  secure  me  that  miserable  pittance  they 
called  my  settlement ;  how  to  recompense  me  for  the  fatal 
mistake  I  made  in  my  marriage  ;  how  to  distinguish 
between  the  persons  who  fraudulently  took  possession  of 
your  property,  and  the  poor  harmless  victim  of  their  false 
pretensions." 

"And  is  not  this  what  I  am  here  for?  Is  it  not  to  lay 
my  whole  fortune  at  your  feet  ?  " 

"A  very  pretty  phrase,  that  doesn't  mean  anything  like 
what  it  pretends ;  a  phrase  borrowed  from  a  vaudeville,  and 
that  ought  to  be  restored  to  where  it  came  from." 

"Lord  and  Lady  Culduff,  my  Lady,  wish  to  pay  their 
respects." 

"They  are  passing  through,"  said  Lady  Augusta,  reading 
the  words  written  in  pencil  on  the  card  presented  by  the 
servant.  "Of  course  I  must  see  them.  You  needn't  go 
away,  Count;  but  I  shall  not  present  you.     Yes,  Hislop, 


472  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

tell  her  Ladyship  I  am  at  home.  I  declare,  you  are  always 
compromising  me.  Sit  over  yonder,  and  read  your  news- 
paper,  or  play  with  Felice." 

She  had  barely  finished  these  instructions  when  the 
double  door  was  flung  wide,  and  Marion  swept  proudly 
;in.  Her  air  and  toilet  were  both  queenlike;  and,  indeed, 
i  her  beauty  was  not  less  striking  than  either.  Lord  Culduff 
followed,  a  soft  pleasant  smile  on  his  face.  It  might  do 
service  in  many  ways,  for  it  was  equally  ready  to  mean 
sweetness  or  sarcasm,   as  occasion  called  for. 

When  the  ladies  had  kissed  twice,  and  his  Lordship  had 
saluted  Lady  Augusta  with  a  profound  respect,  dashed 
with  a  sort  of  devotion,  Marion's  eyes  glanced  at  the 
stranger,  who,  though  he  arose,  and  only  reseated  himself 
as  they  sat  down,  neither  lifted  his  glance  nor  seemed  to 
notice  them  further.   ^ 

"We  are  only  going  through;  we  start  at  two  o'clock," 
said  she,   hurriedly. 

"At  one-forty,  my  Lady,"  said  Lord  Culduff,  with  a 
faint  smile,  as  though  shocked  at  being  obliged  to  correct 
her. 

"It  was  so  kind  of  you  to  come,"  said  Lady  Augusta; 
"and  you  only  arrived  this  morning?" 

"We  only  arrived  half  an  hour  ago." 

"I- must  order  you  some  lunch.  I'm  sure  you  can  eat 
something." 

"My  Lady  is  hungry;  she  said  so  as  we  came  along," 
said  Lord  Culduff.  "Allow  me  to  ring  for  you.  As  for 
myself,  I  take  Liebig's  lozenges  and  a  spoonful  of  Curacoa 
—  nothing  else  —  before  dinner." 

"It  's  so  pleasant  to  live  with  people  who  are  'dieted,'  " 
said  Marion,  with  a  sneering  emphasis  on  the  word. 

"So  I  hear  from  Bramleigh,"  interposed  Lord  Culduff, 
"that  this  man  —  I  forget  his  name  —  actually  broke  into 
the  house  at  Castello,  and  carried  away  a  quantity  of 
papers." 

"My  Lord,  as  your  Lordship  is  so  palpably  referring  to 
me,  and  as  I  am  quite  sure  you  are  not  aware  of  my 
identity,  may  I  hasten  to  say  I  am  Count  Pracontal  de 
Bramleigh?" 


AT  LADY  AUGUSTA'S.  473 

"Oh,  dear!  have  I  forgotten  to  present  you?  "  said  Lady 
Augusta,  with  a  perfect  simplicity  of  manner. 

Marion  acknowledged  the  introduction  by  the  slightest 
imaginable  bow,  and  a  look  of  cold  defiance;  while  Lord 
Culduff  smiled  blandly,  and  professed  his  regret  if  he  had 
uttered  a  word  that  could  occasion  pain. 

"Love  and  war  are  chartered  libertines,  and  why  not 
law?"  said  the  Viscount.  "I  take  it  that  all  stratagems 
are  available;  the  great  thing  is,  they  should  be  successful." 

"  Count  Pracontal  declares  that  he  can  pledge  himself  to 
the  result,"  said  Lady  Augusta.  "The  case,  in  fact,  as  he 
represents  it,   is  as  good  as  determined." 

"Has  a  jury  decided,  then?  "  asked  Culduff. 

"No,  my  Lord;  the  trial  comes  on  next  term.  I  only 
repeat  the  assurance  given  me  by  my  lawyer;  and  so  far 
confirmed  by  him  that  he  has  made  me  large  advances, 
which  he  well  knows  I  could  not  repay  if  I  should  not  gain 
my  cause." 

"These  are  usually  cautious  people,"  said  the  Viscount, 
gravely. 

"It  strikes  me,"  said  Marion,  rising,  "that  this  sort  of 
desultory  conversation  on  a  matter  of  such  importance  is, 
to  say  the  least,  inconvenient.  P^ven  the  presence  of  this 
gentleman  is  not  sufR^ent  to  make  me  forget  that  my 
family  have  always  regarded  his  pretension  as  something 
not  very  far  from  a  fraud." 

"I  regret  infinitely,  madam,"  said  Pracontal,  bowing  low, 
"that  it  is  not  a  man  has  uttered  the  words  just  spoken." 

"Lady  Culduff' s  words,  sir,  are  all  mine,"  said  Lord 
Culduff. 

"  I  thank  your  Lordship  from  my  heart  for  the  relief  you 
have  afforded  me." 

"There  must  be  nothing  of  this  kind,"  said  Lady 
Augusta,  warmly.  "If  I  have  been  remiss  in  not  making 
Count  Pracontal  known  to  you  before,  let  me  repair  my 
error  by  presenting  him  now  as  a  gentleman  who  makes  me 
the  offer  of  his  hand." 

"I  wish  you  good-morning,"  said  Marion.  "No,  thank 
you;  no  luncheon.  Your  Ladyship  has  given  me  fully  as 
much  for  digestion  as  I  care  for.     Good-bye." 


474  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

"  If  my  congratulations  could  only  shadow  forth  a  vision 
of  all  the  happiness  I  wish  your  Ladyship,"  began  Lord 
Culdufif. 

"I  think  I  know,  my  Lord,  what  you  would  say,"  broke 
she  in,  laughingly.  "  You  would  like  to  have  uttered  some- 
thing very  neat  on  well-assorted  unions.  There  could  be  no 
better  authority  on  such  a  subject;  but  Count  Pracontal  is 
toleration  itself :  he  lets  me  tell  my  friends  that  I  am  about 
to  marry  him  for  money,  just  as  I  married  poor  Colonel 
Bramleigh  for  love." 

"  I  am  waiting  for  you,  my  Lord.  We  have  already  tres- 
passed too  far  on  her  Ladyship's  time  and  occupations." 
The  sneering  emphasis  on  the  last  word  w^as  most  distinct. 
Lord  Culduff  kissed  Lady  Augusta's  hand  with  a  most 
devoted  show  of  respect,   and  slowly  retired. 

As  the  door  closed  after  them,  Pracontal  fell  at  her  feet, 
and  covered  her  hand  with  kisses. 

"  There,  there.  Count,  I  have  paid  a  high  price  for  that 
piece  of  impertinence  I  have  just  uttered ;  but  when  I  said 
it,  I  thought  it  would  have  given  her  an  apoplexy." 
"  But  you  are  mine,  —  you  are  my  own !  " 
''Nous  enparlerons.  The  papers  are  full  of  breaches  of 
promise;  and  if  you  want  me  to  keep  mine,  you'll  not 
make  it  odious  to  me  by  tormenting  me  about  it." 

"But,  my  Lady,  I  have  a  heart;  a  heart  that  would  be 
broken  by  a  betrayal." 

"What  a  strange  heart  for  a  Frenchman!  About  as  suit- 
able to  the  Boulevards  Italiens  as  snow  shoes  to  the  tropics. 
Monsieur  de  Pracontal,"  said  she,  in  a  much  graver  tone, 
"please  to  bear  in  mind  that  /am  a  very  considerable  item 
in  such  an  arrangement  as  we  spoke  of.  The  whole  ques- 
tion is  not  what  would  make  ijou  happy." 

Pracontal  bowed  low  in  silence;  his  gesture  seemed  to 
accept  her  words  as  a  command  to  be  obeyed,  and  he  did 
not  utter  a  syllable. 

"  Is  n't  she  handsome  ?  "  cried  she,  at  length.  "  I  declare. 
Count,  if  one  of  your  countrywomen  had  a  single  one  of 
the  charms  of  that  beautiful  face  she  'd  be  turning  half  the 
heads  in  Europe;  and  Marion  can  do  nothing  with  them 
all,  except  drive  other  women  wild  with  envy." 


CHAPTER  LVII. 

AT   THE    INN    AT    CATTARO. 

When  L' Estrange  had  carried  off  Jack  Bramleigh  to  the 
inn,  and  had  seen  him  engaged  with  an  excellent  breakfast, 
he  despatched  a  messenger  to  the  villa  to  say  that  he  was 
not  to  be  expected  home  by  dinner  time,  but  would  be  back 
to  tea  "with  a  friend,"  for  whom  he  begged  Gusty  Bram- 
leigh's  room  might  be  prepared. 

I  shall  not  delay  to  chronicle  all  the  doubt,  the  discus- 
sion, and  the  guessing  that  the  note  occasioned ;  the  mere 
fact  that  George  had  ventured  to  issue  an  order  of  this  kind 
without  first  consulting  Julia  investing  the  step  with  a 
degree  of  mysteriousness  perfectly  inscrutable.  I  turn, 
however,  to  Cattaro,  where  L' Estrange  and  Jack  sat 
together,  each  so  eager  to  hear  the  other's  tidings  as  to  be 
almost  too  impatient  to  dwell  upon  himself. 

To  account  for  their  presence  in  this  remote  spot,  George, 
as  briefly  as  he  could,  sketched  the  course  of  events  at 
Castello,  not  failing  to  lay  due  stress  on  the  noble  and 
courageous  spirit  with  which  Augustus  and  Nelly  had  met 
misfortune.  "All  is  not  lost  yet,"  said  L'Estrange;  "far 
from  it ;  but  even  if  the  worst  should  come,  I  do  not  know 
of  two  people  in  the  world  who  will  show  a  stouter  front  to 
adversity." 

"  And  your  sister,  where  is  she  ?  "  said  Jack,  in  a  voice 
scarce  above  a  whisper. 

"Here, —at  the  villa." 

"  Not  married  ?  " 

"No.  I  believe  she  has  changed  less  than  any  of  us. 
She  is  just  what  you  remember  her." 

It  was  not  often  that  L'Estrange  attempted  anything  like 
adroitness  in  expression;  but  he  did  so  here,  and  saw,  in 


476  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

the  heightened  color  and  sparkling  eye  of  the  other,  how 
thoroughly  his  speech  had  succeeded. 

"I  wonder  will  she  know  me!  "  said  Jack,  after  a  pause. 
"  You  certainly  did  not  at  first." 

"Nor,  for  that  matter,  did  you  recognize  me.^' 

"Ah,  but  I  did,  though,"  said  Jack,  passing  his  hand 
over  his  brow ;  "  but  I  had  gone  through  so  much,  and  my 
head  was  so  knocked  about,  I  could  n't  trust  that  my  senses 
were  not  deceiving  me,  and  I  thought  if  I  make  any  egre- 
gious blunder  now,  these  people  will  set  me  down  for  mad. 
That  was  the  state  I  was  in  the  whole  time  you  were  ques- 
tioning me.  I  promise  you  it  was  no  small  suffering  while 
it  lasted." 

"  My  poor  fellow,  what  trials  you  must  have  gone  through 
to  come  to  this  !  Tell  me  by  what  mischance  you  were  at 
Ischia." 

With  all  a  sailor's  frankness,  and  with  a  modesty  in 
speaking  of  his  own  achievements  just  as  sailor-like,  Jack 
told  the  story  of  the  storm  at  Naples. 

"  I  had  no  thought  of  breaking  the  laws,"  said  he,  bluntly. 
"I  saw  ships  foundering,  and  small  craft  turning  keel 
uppermost  on  every  side  of  me;  there  was  disaster  and 
confusion  everywhere.  I  had  no  time  to  inquire  about  the 
morals  of  the  men  I  saw  clinging  to  hencoops,  or  holding 
on  by  stretchers.  I  saved  as  many  as  I  could,  and  sorry 
enough  I  was  to  have  seen  many  go  down  before  I  could  get 
near  them ;  and  I  was  fairly  beat  when  it  was  all  over,  or, 
perhaps,  they  'd  not  have  captured  me  so  easily.  At  all 
events,"  said  he,  after  a  minute's  silence,  "they  might  have 
let  me  off  with  a  lighter  sentence,  but  my  temper  got  the 
better  of  me  in  court,  and  when  they  asked  me  if  it  was 
not  true  that  I  had  made  greater  efforts  to  save  the  galley- 
slaves  than  the  soldiery,  I  told  them  it  might  have  been  so, 
for  the  prisoners,  chained  and  handcuffed,  as  they  were, 
went  down  like  brave  men,  while  the  royal  troops  yelled 
and  screamed  like  a  set  of  arrant  cowards ;  and  that  when- 
ever I  pulled  one  of  the  wretches  out  of  the  water  I  was  half 
ashamed  of  my  own  humanity.  That  speech  settled  me ;  at 
least,  the  lawyer  said  so,  and  declared  he  was  afraid  to  say 
a  word  more  in  defence  of  a  man  that  insulted  the  tribunal 
and  the  nation  together." 


AT  THE   INN  AT  CATTARO.  477 

"  And  what  was  your  sentence  ?  " 

'^  Death,  —  commuted  to  the  galleys  for  life ;  worse  than 
any  death!  It's  not  the  hardship  or  the  labor,  I  mean. 
A  sailor  goes  through  more  downright  hard  work  on  a 
blowy  night  than  these  fellows  do  in  a  year.  It  is  the  way 
a  man  brutalizes  when  vice  and  crime  make  up  the  whole 
atmosphere  of  his  life.  The  devil  has  a  man's  heart  all 
his  own,  whenever  hope  deserts  it,  and  you  want  to  do 
wickedness  just  because  it  is  wickedness.  For  three  weeks 
before  I  made  my  escape,  it  was  all  I  could  do  not  to  dash 
the  turnkey's  brains  out  when  he  made  his  night  round. 
I  told  my  comrade  —  the  man  I  was  chained  to  —  what  I 
felt;  and  he  said,  'We  all  go  through  that  at  first;  but 
when  you  're  some  years  here  you  '11  not  care  for  that  or 
anything.'  I  believe  it  was  the  terror  of  coming  to  that 
condition  made  me  try  to  escape.  I  don't  know  that  I  ever 
felt  the  same  ecstasy  of  delight  that  I  felt  as  I  found 
myself  swimming  in  that  fresh  cold  sea  in  the  silence  of  a 
calm  starry  night.  I  'm  sure  it  will  be  a  memory  that  will 
last  my  lifetime.  I  thought  of  you  all,  —  I  thought  of  long 
ago,  of  our  happy  evenings ;  and  I  pictured  to  my  mind  the 
way  we  used  to  sit  around  the  fire,  and  I  wondered  what 
had  become  of  my  place.  Was  I  ever  remembered  ?  Was 
I  spoken  of?  Could  it  be  that  at  that  very  moment  some 
one  was  asking,  where  was  poor  Jack  ?  And  how  I  wished 
you  might  all  know  that  my  last  thoughts  were  upon  you ; 
that  it  was  the  dear  old  long  ago  was  before  me  to  the  last. 
I  was  seventeen  hours  in  the  water.  When  they  picked  me 
up  I  was  senseless  from  a  sun-stroke ;  for  the  corks  fioated 
me  long  after  I  gave  up  swimming.  I  was  so  ill  when  I 
landed  that  I  went  to  hospital;  but  there  was  little  care 
given  to  the  sick,  and  I  left  it  when  I  was  able  to  walk, 
and  came  on  here.  Talk  of  luck ;  but  I  ask  you  was  there 
ever  such  a  piece  of  fortune  befell  a  man?" 

L'Estrange  could  not  speak  as  he  gazed  on  the  poor  fel- 
low, over  whose  worn  and  wasted  features  joy  had  lighted 
up  a  look  of  delight  that  imparted  an  almost  angelic  eleva- 
tion to  his  face. 

"But  can  I  go  back  like  this?  "  asked  he,  sorrowfully,  as 
he  looked  down  at  his  ragged  clothes  and  broken  shoes. 


478  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"I  have  thought  of  all  that.  There  is  nothing  to  be  had 
here  ready  but  Montenegrin  costume,  so  the  landlord  tells 
me,  and  you  will  have  to  figure  in  something  very 
picturesque. " 

"Cannot  I  get  a  sailor's  jacket  and  trousers?  " 

"Aye,  of  Dalmatian  cut  and  color;  but  they  '11  not 
become  you  as  well  as  that  green  velvet  attila  and  the  loose 
hose  of  the  mountaineer.  Try  if  you  can't  take  a  sleep 
now;  and  when  you  awake  you  '11  find  your  new  rig  in  that 
room  yonder,  where  there  's  a  bath  ready  for  you.  I  '11  go 
down  the  town,  meanwhile,  and  do  a  few  commissions,  and 
we  will  set  out  homewards  when  you're  rested." 

"I  wish  it  was  over,"  said  Jack,  with  a  sigh. 

"Wish  what  was  over?  " 

"I  mean  I  wish  the  shock  was  over,  —  the  shock  of  see- 
ing me  such  an  object  as  I  am.  Sickness  changes  a  man 
quite  enough,  but  there's  worse  than  that,  George.  I  know 
what  this  rough  life  of  mine  must  have  made  of  me.  You 
won't  say  it,  old  fellow,  but  I  see  it  in  your  sad  face  all  the 
same.  I  am  —  say  it  out,  man  —  I  am  a  most  disreputable- 
looking  blackguard ! " 

"I  declare,  on  my  honor,  that,  except  the  ravages  of  ill- 
ness,  I  see  no  change  in  you,   whatever." 

"Look  here,"  said  Jack,  as  his  voice  trembled  with  a 
peculiar  agitation,  "I  '11  see  Nelly  first.  A  man's  sister 
can  never  be  ashamed  of  him,  come  what  will.  If  Nelly 
shows  —  and  she  's  not  one  to  hide  it  —  that  —  no  matter, 
I  '11  not  say  more  about  it.  I  see  you  're  not  pleased  with 
me  laying  stress  on  such  a  matter." 

"No,  no,  you  Avrong  me.  Jack;  you  wi'ong  me  altogether. 
My  poor  fellow,  we  never  were  —  we  never  had  such  good 
reason  to  be  proud  of  you  as  now.  Y'ou  are  a  hero.  Jack. 
You've  done  what  all  Europe  will  ring  with." 

"  Don't  talk  balderdash ;  my  head  is  weak  enough  already. 
If  you  're  not  ashamed  of  the  tatterdemalion  that  comes 
back  to  you,  it 's  more  than  I  deserve.  There,  now,  go  off, 
and  do  your  business,  and  don't  be  long,  for  I  'm  growing 
very  impatient  to  see  them.  Give  me  something  to  smoke 
till  you  come  back,  and  I  '11  try  and  be  calm  and  reasonable 
by  that  time." 


AT  THE   INN  AT   CATTARO.  479 

If  L'Estrange  had  really  anything  to  do  in  the  town  he 
forgot  all  about  it,  and  trotted  about  from  street  to  street, 
so  full  of  Jack  and  his  adventures  that  he  walked  into 
apple-stalls  and  kicked  over  egg-baskets  amid  the  laughter 
and  amusement  of  the  people. 

If  he  had  told  no  more  than  the  truth  in  saying  that  Jack 
was  still  like  what  he  had  been,  there  were  about  him  signs 
of  suffering  and  hardship  that  gave  a  most  painful  signifi- 
cance to  his  look;  and  more  painful  than  even  these  was 
the  poor  fellow's  consciousness  of  his  fallen  condition. 
The  sudden  pauses  in  speaking,  the  deep  sigh  that  would 
escape  him,  the  almost  bitter  raillery  he  used  when  speak- 
ing of  himself,  all  showed  how  acutely  he  felt  his  altered 
state. 

L'Estrange  was  in  nowise  prepared  for  the  change  half 
an  hour  had  made  in  Jack's  humor.  The  handsome  dress 
of  Montenegro  became  him  admirably,  and  the  sailor-like 
freedom  of  his  movements  went  well  with  the  easy  costume. 
"Isn't  this  a  most  appropriate  transformation,  George?" 
he  cried  out.  "  I  came  in  here  looking  like  a  pickpocket, 
and  I  go  out  like  a  stage  bandit." 

''I  declare,  it  becomes  you  wonderfully.  I  '11  wager  the 
girls  will  not  let  you  wear  any  other  dress." 

''Ay,  but  my  toilet  is  not  yet  completed.  See  what  a 
gorgeous  scarf  I  have  got  here  —  green  and  gold,  and  with 
a  gold  fringe  that  will  reach  to  my  boots ;  and  the  landlord 
insists  on  lending  me  his  own  silver-mounted  sabre.  I  say, 
old  fellow,  have  you  courage  to  go  through  the  town  with 
me?" 

"You  forget  you  are  in  the  last  fashion  of  the  place;  if 
they  stare  at  you  now,   it  will  be  approvingly." 

"What 's  the  distance?     Are  we  to  walk?  " 

"Walk  or  drive,  as  you  like  best.  On  foot  we  can  do 
it  in  an  hour." 

"  On  foot  be  it,  then ;  for  though  I  am  very  impatient  to 
see  them,   I  have  much  to  ask  you  about." 

As  they  issued  from  the  inn,  it  was,  as  L'Estrange  sur- 
mised, to  meet  a  most  respectful  reception  from  the  towns- 
folk, who  regarded  Jack  as  a  mountaineer  chief  of  rank 
and  station.     They  uncovered  and  made  way  for  him  as  he 


480  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

passed;  and  from  the  women,  especially,  came  words  of 
flattering  admiration  at  his  handsome  looks  and  gallant 
bearing.        . 

"Are  they  commenting  on  the  ass  in  the  lion's  skin?" 
said  Jack,  in  a  sly  whisper.  "  Is  that  what  they  are  mutter- 
ing to  each  other  ?  " 

"Quite  the  reverse.  It  is  all  in  extravagant  praise  of 
you.  The  police  are  on  the  alert,  too;  they  think  there 
must  be  mischief  brewing  in  the  mountains,  that  has 
brought  a  great  chief  down  to  Cattaro." 

Thus,  chatting  and  laughing,  they  gained  the  outskirts  of 
the  town,  and  soon  found  themselves  on  one  of  the  rural 
paths  which  led  up  the  mountain. 

"Don't  think  me  very  stupid,  George,  or  very  tiresome," 
said  Jack,  "  if  I  ask  you  to  go  over  again  what  you  told  me 
this  morning.  Such  strange  things  have  befallen  me  of 
late  that  I  can  scarcely  distinguish  between  fact  and 
fancy.  Now,  first  of  all,  have  we  lost  Castello  —  and  who 
owns  it?  " 

"No.  The  question  is  yet  to  be  decided;  the  trial  will 
take  place  in  about  two  months." 

"And  if  we  are  beaten,  does  it  mean  that  we  are  ruined? 
Does  it  sweep  away  Marion  and  Nelly's  fortunes,  too?" 

"I  fear  so.  I  know  little  accurately,  but  I  believe  the 
whole  estate  is  involved  in  the  claim." 

"Gusty  bears  it  well,  you  say?  " 

"Admirably.  I  never  saw  a  man  behave  with  such 
splendid  courage." 

"I'll  not  ask  about  Nelly,  for  I  could  swear  for  her 
pluck.     She  was  always  the  best  of  us." 

If  L'Estrange  drank  in  this  praise  with  ecstasy,  he  had 
to  turn  away  his  head,  lest  the  sudden  flush  that  covered 
his  face  should  be  observed. 

"I  have  no  wish  to  hear  the  story  of  this  claim  now;  you 
shall  tell  it  to  me  some  other  time.  But  just  tell  me,  was 
it  ever  heard  of  in  my  father's  time?" 

"I  believe  so.  Your  father  knew  of  it,  but  did  not  deem 
it  serious." 

"Marion,  of  course,  despises  it  still;  and  what  does 
Temple  say?" 


AT  THE  INN  AT  CATTARO.  481 

*'One  scarcely  knows.  I  don't  think  they  have  had  a 
letter  from  him  since  they  left  Ireland." 

''See  what  a  wise  fellow  I  was!  "  cried  he,  laughing.  "I 
sank  so  low  in  life  that  any  change  must  be  elevation. 
You  are  all  great  folks  to  ine!'' 

There  was  a  long  and  painful  pause  after  this  —  each 
deep  in  his  own  thoughts.  At  last  Jack  asked  suddenly, 
"How  is  Marion?     Is  she  happy  in  her  marriage?" 

"We  hear  next  to  nothing  of  her;  the  newspapers  tell  us 
of  her  being  at  great  houses  and  in  fine  company,  but  we 
know  no  more." 

"Of  course  she  's  happy,  then.  When  she  was  a  child 
she  would  only  play  with  us  if  we  made  her  a  queen ;  and 
though  we  often  tried  to  rebel  —  we  were  great  levellers  in 
our  way  —  she  always  kept  us  down,  and  whether  we  liked 
it  or  not,   we  had  to  admit  the  sovereignty." 

"  Your  younger  sister "  —  he  did  not  call  her  Nelly  — 
"was  not  of  this  mould?" 

"Not  a  bit  of  it;  she  was  the  peacemaker,  always  on  the 
side  of  the  weak;  and  though  she  was  a  delicate  child, 
she  'd  fight  against  oppression  with  the  passion  of  a 
tigress.  Wasn't  it  strange?"  said  he,  after  a  pause. 
"There  we  were,  five  of  us,  treated  and  reared  exactly 
alike;  in  early  life,  certainly,  there  were  no  distinctions 
made,  nor  any  favoritism  practised.  We  were  of  the  same 
race  and  blood,  and  yet  no  two  of  us  were  alike.  Temple 
had,  perhaps,  some  sort  of  resemblance  to  Marion,  but  he 
had  not  her  bold,  daring  spirit.  Where  she  was  courageous, 
he  'd  have  been  crafty.  Whatever  good  there  was  amongst 
us,  Nelly  had  it." 

Another  and  longer  pause  now  succeeded.  "I  say, 
George,"  cried  Jack,  at  last,  "how  do  you  mean  to  break  it 
to  the  girls  that  I  'm  here?  I  take  it,  poor  Nelly's  nerves 
must  have  suffered  sorely  of  late.  Is  she  likely  to  stand  a 
shock  without  injury  ?  " 

"It  is  exactly  what  I  'm  trying  to  resolve  this  moment. 
Flushed  with  the  walk,  and  cheered  by  the  fresh  air,  you 
don't  look  sickly  now." 

"Ah,  my  dear  fellow,  that 's  not  the  worst  of  it.  It  is 
the  sight  of  me  as  recalling  my  fallen  fortune  —  that's  what 

31 


482  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

I  fear  for  her ;  her  last  good-bye  to  me  was  blended  with 
joy  at  my  promotion  —  I  was  going  to  take  up  my  com- 
mand!    She  has  never  seen  me  since  my  disgrace." 

"Don't  call  it  that,  Jack;  we  all  know  there  is  no  other 
blame  attaches  to  you  than  rashness." 

''When  rashness  can  make  a  man  forget  his  condition, 
it 's  bad  enough ;  but  I  '11  n6t  go  back  to  these  things.  Tell 
me  how  I  am  to  meet  her." 

''Perhaps  it  would  be  best  I  should  first  see  Julia,  and 
tell  her  you  are  here.     I  always  like  to  ask  her  advice." 

"I  know  that  of  old,"  said  Jack,  with  a  faint  smile. 

"I  '11  leave  you  in  the  summer-house  at  the  end  of  the 
garden,   there,   till  I  speak  with  Julia." 

"Not  very  long,  I  hope."  » 

"Not  an  instant;  she  never  requires  a  minute  to  decide 
on  what  to  do.  Follow  me,  now,  along  this  path,  and  I  '11 
place  you  in  your  ambush.    You  '11  not  leave  it  till  I  come." 

"What  a  lovely  spot  this  seems;  it  beats  Castello 
hollow!" 

"So  we  say  every  day.  We  all  declare  we  'd  like  to  pass 
our  lives  here." 

"  Let  me  be  one  of  the  party,  and  I  '11  say  nothing  against 
the  project,"  said  Jack,  as  he  brushed  through  a  hedge  of 
sweet-brier,  and  descended  a  little  slope,  at  the  foot  of 
which  a  shady  summer-house  stood  guardian  over  a  well. 
"Remember,  now,"  cried  he,  "not  to  tax  my  patience  too 
far.     I  '11  give  you  ten  minutes,  but  I  won't  wait  twenty." 

L'Estrange  lost  no  time  in  hastening  back  to  the  house. 
Julia,  he  heard,  was  giving  orders  about  the  room  for  the 
stranger,  and  he  found  her  actively  engaged  in  the  prepara- 
tion. "For  whom  am  1  taking  all  this  trouble,  George?" 
said  she,  as  he  entered. 

"Guess,  Julia,  guess!  Whom  would  you  say  was  best 
worth  it?" 

"Not  Mr.  Cutbill  —  whom  Nelly  fixed  on  —  not  Sir  Mar- 
cus Cluff,  whose  name  occurred  to  myself,  nor  even  the 
Pretender,  Count  Pracontal;  and  now  I  believe  I  have 
exhausted  the  category  of  possible  guests." 

"Not  any  of  these,"  said  he,  drawing  her  to  his  side. 
"Where  is  Nelly?" 


AT  THE   IXN  AT  CATTARO.  483 

"She  went  down  to  gather  some  roses." 

"Not  in  the  lower  garden,  I  hope,"  cried  he,  eagerly. 

"Wherever  she  could  find  the  best  —  but  why  not  there? 
and  what  do  you  mean  by  all  this  mystery?" 

"Go  and  fetch  her  here  at  once,"  cried  he.  "If  she 
should  see  him  suddenly,  the  shock  might  do  her  great 
harm." 

"See  whom ?  see  whom ?  "  exclaimed  she,  wildly.  " Don't 
torture  me  this  way  I" 

"Jack,  her  brother,  — Jack  Bramleigh,"  and  he  proceeded 
to  tell  how  he  had  found  him,  and  in  what  condition;  but 
she  heard  nothing  of  it  all,  for  she  had  sunk  down  on  a 
seat,  and  sat  sobbing,  with  her  hands  over  her  face ;  then, 
suddenly  wiping  the  tears  away,  she  rose  up,  and,  while  her 
voice  trembled  with  each  word,  she  said,  '•  Is  he  changed, 
George  ?  is  he  greatly  changed  ?  " 

"  Changed !  yes,  for  he  has  been  ill,  and  gone  through  all 
manner  of  hardships,  and  now  he  is  dressed  like  a  Monte- 
negro chief,  for  we  could  get  no  other  clothes,  so  that 
you'll  scarcely  know  him." 

"Let  us  find  Nelly  at  once,"  said  she,  moving  towards 
the  door.  "  Come,  George,  —  come, "  and  she  was  down  the 
stairs,  and  across  the  hall,  and  out  at  the  door,  before  he 
could  follow  her.  In  her  agitated  manner,  and  rapid  ex- 
pression, it  was  evident  she  was  endeavoring  to  subdue  the 
deep  emotion  of  her  heart,  and,  by  seeming  to  be  occupied, 
to  suppress  the  signs  of  that  blended  joy  and  sorrow  which 
rack  the  nature  more  fatally  than  downright  misery. 

"  See,  George,  look  there !  "  cried  she,  wildly,  as  she 
pointed  down  a  straight  alley,  at  the  top  of  which  they  were 
standing.  "  There  they  are.  Nelly  has  her  arm  round  him. 
They  have  met,  and  it  is  all  over;"  and  so  saying,  she  hid 
her  face  on  her  brother's  shoulder,  and  sobbed  heavily. 
Meanwhile,  the  two  came  slowly  forward,  too  much  engaged 
with  each  other  to  notice  those  in  front  of  them. 


CHAPTER   LVIII. 


THE    VILLA    LIFE. 


It  is  not  at  this  the  eleventh  hour  of  my  story,  I  can  stop 
to  dwell  on  the  life  of  the  villa  at  Cattaro,  though  I  am  free 
to  own  it  was  about  the  sunniest  bit  of  landscape  our  long 
journey  has  offered  us. 

Seated,  or  lying  on  the  grass,  under  the  shade  of  a  broad- 
leaved  fig-tree,  they  listened  to  Jack's  adventures,  told 
with  a  quaint  humor,  of  which  they,  who  knew  him  well, 
could  appreciate  every  shade  and  tint.  In  his  days  of  pros- 
perous fortune  it  was  rare  to  hear  him  speak  of  himself. 
The  routine  life  he  led  seemed  to  develop  little  or  nothing 
of  his  real  nature ;  but  now,  dependent  as  he  was  altogether 
on  intrinsic  qualities,  for  w^hatever  estimation  he  might 
obtain,  owing  nothing  to  station,  it  was  remarkable  how 
his  character  had  widened  and  expanded,  how  his  sym- 
pathies with  his  fellow-men  had  increased.  Though  noth- 
ing could  be  farther  from  his  nature  than  any  mawkish 
sentimentality,  there  was  that  show  of  trustfulness,  that 
degree  of  hopeful  belief  in  the  world  at  large,  which  occa- 
sionally led  Julia  to  banter  him  on  his  optimism;  and  this, 
be  it  said  passingly,  was  the  only  show  of  freedom  between 
them,  —  their  manner  to  each  other  from  the  moment  they 
met  being  marked  by  a  studied  reserve  on  each  side. 

"And  surely.  Prince,"  said  she,  calling  him  by  the  title 
which  in  honor  of  his  dress  they  had  given  him,  "surely 
you  must  have  met  some  charming  creatures  at  the  galleys. 
All  the  good  qualities  of  human  nature  were  not  reserved 
for  the  cockpit  or  the  steerage,  or  whatever  it  is." 

"Aye,  even  at  the  galleys  they  were  n't  all  bad,  though 
it 's  not  exactly  the  sort  of  place  men  grow  better  in.    I  had 


THE   VILLA  LIFE.  4«5 

a  capital  old  fellow  as  comrade,  and,  I  take  shame  to  say, 
I  ought  to  have  thought  of  him  before  this.  I  say,  George, 
have  you  any  friends  of  influence  at  Naples?  I  wish  I 
could  get  my  old  companion  his  liberty." 

"George  has  gone  in  to  write  to  Augustus,"  said  Nelly; 
"but  if  Lord  Culduff  could  answer  your  purpose,  I  'd  ask 
Marion  to  interest  him  in  the  matter." 

"There's  a  dear  good  girl,  do  write  a  line  to  Marion; 
tell  her  it 's  the  greatest  favor  she  could  bestow  on  me. 
The  poor  fellow  is  a  political  criminal ;  he  only  shot  at  the 
king,  I  believe ;  and  where  they  do  that  every  week  or  so, 
it 's  hard  to  make  it  a  capital  offence.  I  '11  give  you  his 
name  and  his  number  when  I  go  into  the  house." 

''The  post  leaves  early,"  said  she,  rising.  "I  must  do 
this  at  once." 

"  Wait  till  I  have  finished  this  corner  of  my  netting,  and 
I'll  go  with  you,"  said  Julia. 

"I  say  No  to  that,"  cried  Jack.  "I'm  not  going  to  be 
left  alone  here.  If  that 's  the  way  you  treat  a  distin- 
guished guest,  the  sooner  he  takes  his  leave  the  better. 
Stay  where  you  are.  Miss  Julia." 

"But  I  shall  have  no  work.  Master  Jack.  My  net  will 
be  finished  in  a  few  minutes." 

"Make  cigarettes  for  me,  then.  There  's  the  bag,"  said 
he,  lazily. 

"I  declare,  our  Bohemianism  progresses  famously,"  said 
she,  half  tartly.  "What  do  you  think  of  this  proposal, 
Nelly  ?  "  The  question  came  late,  however ;  for  Nelly  was 
already  on  her  way  to  the  house. 

"Don't  go,  that 's  a  good  girl.  Don't  leave  me  here  to 
my  own  thoughts,  —  they  're  not  over  jolly,  I  promise  you, 
when  I'm  all  alone." 

"Why,  it's  your  good  spirits  that  amaze  me,"  replied 
she.  "  I  don't  remember  seeing  you  so  cheerful  or  so  merry 
long  ago,  as  you  are  now." 

"You  mean  that  I  was  n't  so  happy  when  I  had  more 
reason  to  be  so  ?  But  what  if  I  were  to  tell  you  out  of  what 
a  sad  heart  this  joy  comes ;  how  every  day  I  say  to  myself, 
'This  is  to  be  the  last  of  it! '  Not,"  said  he,  in  a  bolder 
voice,  "that  I  want  to  think  about  myself;  this  terrible 


486  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

disaster  that  has  befallen  my  family  is  iufiuitely  worse  than 
anything  that  can  attach,  to  me.  Even  yet  I  cannot  bring 
myself  to  believe  this  great  smash."  She  made  no  answer, 
and  he  went  on:  "I  can't  make  out  if  Nelly  herself  believes 
it.  You  all  wear  such  cheerful  faces,  it 's  not  easy  to 
understand  in  what  spirit  you  take  this  reverse." 

"I  think  that  your  return  has  recompensed  Nelly  for 
everything." 

"She  was  always  the  best  of  us;  it's  no  great  praise, 
that  same;  but  I  mean  —  but  it 's  no  matter  what  I  mean, 
for  you  are  laughing  at  me,  already." 

"No,  indeed,  I  was  not.  If  I  smiled,  it  was  in  thinking 
how  little  all  your  casualties  have  changed  you." 

"  For  that  matter,  I  suspect  we  may  compliment  or  con- 
demn each  other,   whichever  it  be,   on  equal  terms." 

"  So  at  last  I  have  got  you  to  say  a  civil  thing  to  me. 
You  tell  me  I  am  the  same  delightful,  fascinating  creature 
you  knew  me  long  ago." 

"I  said  nothing  about  fascination,"  said  he,  sternl}^ 

"Not  directly,  of  course.  Your  tact  and  delicac}^  were 
proof  against  such  indiscretion;  but  you  know  you  meant 
it." 

"I  '11  tell  you  what  I  know:  I  know  that  I  never  saw  a 
girl,  except  yourself,  who  liked  to  pain  —  aye,  to  torture  — 
those  who  cared  for  her;  who  would  infinitely  rather  indulge 
her  mood  of  mockery  than  —  than  —  " 

"Pray,  finish.  It 's  not  every  day  I  have  the  fortune  to 
hear  such  candor.  Tell  me  what  it  is  that  I  postpone  to 
my  love  of  sarcasm?" 

"  I  've  done.  I  've  been  very  rude  to  you,  and  I  ask  your 
pardon.  I  was  not  very  polished  in  my  best  of  days,  and  I 
take  it  my  late  schooling  has  not  done  much  to  improve  me. 
When  I  was  coming  here  I  swore  an  oath  to  myself  that,  no 
matter  what  you  'd  say  to  me,  I  'd  not  lose  temper,  nor 
make  a  resentful  answer  to  anything;  and  now  I  see  I  've 
forgotten  all  my  good  intentions,  and  the  best  thing  I  can 
do  is  to  ask  you  to  forgive  me,  and  go  my  ways." 

"I'm  not  offended,"  said  she,  calmly,  without  raising  her 
eyes.  "  I  suppose  if  the  balance  were  struck  between  us,  I 
did  more  to  provoke  ijou  than  you  did  to  wound  me" 


THE   VILLA  LIFE.  487 

"  What  is  this  I  hear  about  being  provoked  and  wounded  ?  " 
cried  Nelly,  coming  up  to  where  they  sat. 

"Your  brother  and  I  have  been  quarrelling,  that's  all. 
We  thought  it  the  pleasantest  way  to  pass  the  time  till  you 
came  back;  and  we  have  succeeded  to  perfection.'* 

"I  declare,  Julia,  this  is  too  bad,"  cried  Nelly. 

"But  why  '  Julia  '  ?  Why  am  I  singled  out  as  the  culprit? 
Is  he  so  above  reproach  that  he  could  not  be  in  the  wrong?  " 

"I  know  I  was  in  the  wrong,  and  I  've  said  so;  but  now 
let  Nelly  be  judge  between  us.  Here  is  the  way  it 
began  —  " 

"The  way  what  began,  pray?  "  asked  Julia. 

"There,  now,  that's  the  way  she  pushes  me  to  lose  my 
temper;  and  when  she  sees  I'm  angry  she  grows  all  the 
calmer." 

"She's  downright  disagreeable,"  said  Julia;  "and  I 
don't  know  why  a  frank,  outspoken  sailor  condescends  to 
speak  to  her." 

"Well,  he  's  pretty  sure  to  get  the  worst  of  it,"  muttered 
he. 

"Poor  Jack,"  said  Nelly,  caressingly.  "And  for  all 
that  he  likes  the  ill-treatment  better  than  all  the  flatteries 
he  meets  elsewhere." 

"That  shrug  of  the  shoulders  does  not  say  so,"  said 
Julia,  laughing.  "Come,"  cried  she,  with  a  merry  voice, 
"let  us  do  something  more  worthy  of  this  delicious  morn- 
ing. Let  us  have  a  walk  up  the  mountain;  we  can  have 
shade  all  the  way." 

"What's  that  little  dome, — there,  above  the  trees?" 
asked  Jack. 

"That 's  the  campanile  of  our  little  chapel.  I  '11  fetch 
the  key,  and  we  '11  go  and  visit  it.  We  've  not  been  to  see 
it  yet." 

"But  George  would  like  to  come  with  us;  "  and  so  say- 
ing, Julia  hastened  away  to  find  him. 

"Oh,  Nelly,  I  love  her  better  than  ever,  and  she  scorns 
me  even  more,"  said  he,  as  he  hid  his  head  on  his  sister's 
shoulder. 

"My  poor  dear  Jack;  how  little  you  know  her!  You 
never  sorrowed  over  your  last  parting   as  she   did.     We 


488  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

have  bad  all  of  us  great  reverses.  They,  as  well  as  our- 
selves; and  that  spirit  of  Julia's  —  there  is  another  name 
for  it  than  mockery  —  has  carried  her  thi'ough  her  troubles 
better  than  a  more  pretentious  philosophy." 

"  But  she  is  not  even  friendly  with  me,  Nelly.     None  of 
you  make  me  feel  what  I  have  sunk  to  as  she  does." 
■   "  There,  again,  you  are  unjust  —  " 

"Right  or  wrong,  I  '11  bear  it  no  longer.  I  only  wait 
now  till  Gusty  comes  back.  I  want  to  shake  his  hand  once 
more,  and  then,  girl,  you  have  seen  the  last  of  me." 

Before  Nelly  could  reply,  Julia  and  her  brother  had 
joined  them. 

"Here  's  news,"  said  George,  showing  a  letter,  — 
"  Augustus  will  be  with  us  to-morrow ;  he  only  writes  a  few 
lines  to  say,  —  'I  have  nothing  particularly  cheering  to 
report,  and  it  will  all  bear  keeping.  I  mean  to  be  at  home 
on  Wednesday  next.  I  am  all  impatience  to  see  Jack;  the 
thought  of  meeting  him  more  than  repays  me  my  reverses 
here.     Give  him  my  love. — A.  Bramleigh.'" 

"We  shall  have  plenty  to  do  to  prepare  for  his  arrival," 
said  Julia.  "We  must  postpone  our  visit  to  the  chapel. 
Would  this  illustrious  prince  condescend  to  help  us  to  move 
tables  and  chests  of  drawers?" 

Jack  threw  a  very  significant  glance  towards  Nelly,  as 
though  to  say,   "She  is  at  the  old  game." 

"Well,  sir?     I  wait  "your  answer,"  said  Julia. 

"For  twenty-four  hours  I  am  at  your  orders,"  said  Jack. 

"  And  then  under  what  commander  do  you  serve  ?  " 

"Captain  Fortune,  I  suspect,"  said  he,  gravely.  "A 
gentleman,  or  lady,  perhaps,  that  has  shown  me  no  especial 
fondness  up  to  this." 

"Jack  says  he  is  going  to  leave  us,"  said  Nelly,  as  her 
eyes  filled  up. 

"But  why?"  cried  George. 

"But  why?"  echoed  Julia. 

"Haven't  I  given  proof  enough,"  said  Jack,  with  a  faint 
laugh,  "  that  I  'm  not  what  Miss  Julia  there  calls  a  very 
logical  animal;  that  when  I  get  a  wayward  fancy  in  my 
head  I  follow  it  faithfully  as  if  it  was  a  strong  conviction. 
Well,  now,  one  of  these  moments  has  come  to  me;  and 


THE   VILLA  LIFE.  489 

thinking,  besides,  that  this  pleasant  sort  of  life  here  is  not 
exactly  the  best  preparation  for  a  rougher  kind  of  exist- 
ence, I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  slip  my  cable  after  I  've 
seen  Gusty." 

*'Well,  then,  let  us  profit  by  the  short  time  left  us,"  said 
Julia,  quietly.  "Come  and  help  me  in  the  house.  I  shall 
want  you,  too,  George." 

"You  must  do  without  me,  Julia.  I  have  only  just  dis- 
covered a  letter  in  my  pocket,  with  the  seal  unbroken,  that 
I  ought  to  have  answered  at  least  a  fortnight  ago.  It  is 
from  Sir  Marcus  Cluff,"  said  he,  in  a  whisper,  "making  me 
an  offer  of  the  vicarage  at  Hoxton." 

"What  a  kind  fellow!" 

"Who  's  a  kind  fellow?  "  asked  Jack. 

"A  certain  gentleman,  who  made  me  the  flattering  pro- 
posal to  become  his  wife  and  nurse,  and  who  now  offers  to 
make  George  his  chaplain." 

"It  rains  good  luck  here,"  said  Jack,  with  a  half  bitter 
smile.  "Why  won't  it  drift  a  little  in  my  direction?  By 
the  way,  Nelly,  what  about  the  letter  I  asked  you  to  write 
to  Marion?" 

"It  is  written.  I  only  want  to  fill  in  the  name  of  the 
person.     You  told  me  to  keep  a  blank  for  it." 

"I  '11  go  and  fetch  my  pocket-book,"  said  he,  and  broke 
away  at  once,  and  hastened  towards  the  house. 

"I'm  delighted  at  your  good  news,  Julia,"  said  Nelly; 
"  though  it  almost  breaks  my  heart  to  think  how  desolate 
we  shall  soon  be  here." 

"Never  anticipate  evil  fortune.  We  are  still  together; 
and  let  us  not  mar  the  present  by  glancing  at  a  possible 
future." 

"And  poor  Jack,"  began  Nelly;  but  unable  to  finish,  she 
turned  away  her  head  to  hide  the  emotion  she  felt. 

"He  shall  —  he  must  stay,"  cried  Julia. 

"You  know  the  price,  dearest,"  said  Nelly,  throwing 
herself  into  her  arms. 

"Well,  who  says  I  am  not  ready  to  pay  it?  There, 
that 's  enough  of  folly.  Let  us  now  think  of  something 
useful." 


CHAPTER   LIX. 

A    VERY    BRIEF    DREAM. 

Julia  was  seldom  happier  than  when  engaged  in  preparing 
for  a  coming  guest.  There  was  a  blended  romance  and 
fuss  about  it  all  that  she  liked.  She  liked  to  employ  her 
fancy  in  devising  innumerable  little  details,  she  liked  the 
active  occupation  itself,  and  she  liked  best  of  all  that 
storied  web  of  thought  in  which  she  connected  the  expected 
one  with  all  that  was  to  greet  him.  How  he  would  be 
pleased  with  this;  what  he  would  think  of  that?  Would 
he  leave  that  chair  or  that  table  where  she  had  placed  it? 
Would  he  like  that  seat  in  the  window,  and  the  view  down 
the  glen,  as  she  hoped  he  might?  Would  the  new-comer, 
in  fact,  fall  into  the  same  train  of  thought  and  mind  as  she 
had  who  herself  planned  and  executed  all  around  him? 

Thus  thinking  was  it  that,  with  the  aid  of  a  stout  Dalma- 
tian peasant-girl,  she  busied  herself  with  preparations  for 
Augustus  Bramleigh's  arrival.  She  knew  all  his  caprices 
about  the  room  he  liked  to  occupy.  How  he  hated  much 
furniture,  and  loved  space  and  freedom;  how  he  liked  a 
soft  and  tempered  light,  and  that  the  view  from  his  window 
should  range  over  some  quiet,  secluded  bit  of  landscape, 
rather  than  take  in  what  recalled  life  and  movement  and 
the  haunts  of  men. 

She  was  almost  proud  of  the  way  she  saw  into  people's 
natures  by  the  small  dropping  preferences  they  evinced  for 
this  or  that,  and  had  an  intense  pleasure  in  meeting  the 
coming  fancy.  At  the  present  moment,  too,  she  was  glad 
to  busy  herself  in  any  mode  rather  than  dwell  on  the 
thoughts  that  the  first  interval  of  rest  would  be  sure  to 
bring  before  her.     She  saw  that  Jack  Bramleigh  was   dis- 


A  VERY  BRIEF  DREAM.  491 

pleased  with  her,  and,  though  not  without  some  misgiv- 
ings, she  was  vexed  that  he  alone  of  all  should  resent  the 
capricious  moods  of  a  temper  resolutely  determined  to  take 
the  sunniest  path  in  existence,  and  make  the  smaller  worries 
of  life  but  matter  for  banter. 

"He  mistakes  me  altogether,"  said  she,  aloud,  but  speak- 
ing to  herself,  "if  he  imagines  that  I'm  in  love  with 
poverty  and  all  its  straits;  but  I'm  not  going  to  cry  over 
them  for  all  that.  They  may  change  me  in  many  ways. 
I  can't  help  that.  AYant  is  an  ugly  old  hag,  and  one  can- 
not sit  opposite  her  without  catching  a  look  of  her  features; 
but  she  '11  not  subdue  my  courage,  nor  make  me  afraid  to 
meet  her  eye.  Here,  Gretchen,  help  me  with  this  great 
chest  of  drawers.  We  must  get  rid  of  it  out  of  this, 
wherever  it  goes."  It  was  a  long  and  weary  task,  and 
tried  their  strength  to  the  last  limit;  and  Julia  threw  her- 
self into  a  deep-cushioned  chair  when  it  was  over,  and 
sighed  heavily.  "Have  you  a  sweetheart,  Gretchen?"  she 
asked,  just  to  lead  the  girl  to  talk,  and  relieve  the  oppres- 
sion that  she  felt  would  steal  over  her.  Yes,  Gretchen  had 
a  sweetheart,  and  he  was  a  fisherman,  and  he  had  a  fourth 
share  in  a  "bragotza;  "  and  when  he  had  saved  enough  to 
buy  out  two  of  his  comrades  he  was  to  marry  her;  and 
Gretchen  was  very  fond,  and  very  hopeful,  and  very  proud 
of  her  lover,  and  altogether  took  a  very  pleasant  view  of 
life,  though  it  was  all  of  it  in  expectancy.  Then  Gretchen 
asked  if  the  signorina  had  not  a  sweetheart,  and  Julia, 
after  a  pause,  —  and  it  was  a  pause  in  which  her  color  came 
and  went,  —said,  "No!  "  And  Gretchen  drew  nigh,  and 
stared  at  her  with  her  great  hazel  eyes,  and  read  in  her  now 
pale  face  that  the  "  No  "  she  had  uttered  had  its  own  deep 
meaning;  for  Gretchen,  though  a  mere  peasant,  humble 
and  illiterate,  was  a  woman,  and  had  a  woman's  sensibility 
under  all  that  outward  ruggedness. 

"Why  do  you  look  at  me  so,  Gretchen?"  asked  Julia. 

"Ah,  signorina,"  sighed  she,  "I  am  sorry  —  I  am  very 
sorry!     It  is  a  sad  thing  not  to  be  loved. '^ 

"  So  it  is,  Gretty ;  but  every  day  is  not  as  nice  and  balmy 
and  fresh  as  this,  and  yet  we  live  on,  and,  taking  one  with 
the  other,  find  life  pretty  enjoyable,  after  all!  "     The  casu- 


492  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

istry  of  her  speech  made  no  convert.     How  could  it?  —  it 
had  not  any  weight  with  herself. 

The  o-irl  shook  her  head  mournfully,  and  gazed  at  her 
with  sad  eyes,  but  not  speaking  a  word.  "I  thought, 
sionorina,"  said  she,  at  last,  "that  the  handsome  prince  —  " 

"Go  to  your  dinner,  Gretchen.  You  are  late  already," 
said  Julia,  sharply;  and  the  girl  withdrew,  abashed  and 
downcast.  When  thus  alone,  Julia  sat  still,  wearied  by 
her  late  exertions.  She  leaned  her  head  on  the  arm  of  the 
chair,  and  fell  fast  asleep.  The  soft  summer  wind  that 
came  tempered  through  the  window-blinds  played  with  her 
hair  and  fanned  her  to  heavy  slumber  —  at  first,  dreamless 
slumber,   the  price  of  actual  fatigue. 

Jack  Bramleigh,  who  had  been  wandering  about  alone, 
doing  his  best  to  think  over  himself  and  his  future,  but  not 
making  any  remarkable  progress  in  the  act,  had  at  length 
turned  into  the  house,  strolling  from  room  to  room,  half 
unconsciously,  half  struck  by  the  vastness  and  extent  of 
the  building.  Chance  at  last  led  him  along  the  corridor 
which  ended  in  this  chamber,  and  he  entered,  gazing  care- 
lessly around  him,  till  suddenly  he  thought  he  heard  the 
deep-drawn  breathing  of  one  in  heavy  sleep.  He  drew 
nigh,  and  saw  it  was  Julia.  The  arm  on  which  her  head 
lay  hung  listlessly  down,  and  her  hand  was  half  hid  in  the 
masses  of  her  luxuriant  hair.  Noiselessly,  stealthily.  Jack 
crept  to  her  feet,  and  crouched  down  upon  the  floor,  seem- 
ing to  drink  in  her  long  breathings  with  an  ecstasy  of 
delight.  Oh,  what  a  moment  was  that!  Through  how 
many  years  of  life  was  it  to  pass,  the  one  bright  thread  of 
gold  in  the  dark  tissue  of  existence.  As  such  he  knew  it; 
so  he  felt  it;  and  to  this  end  he  treasured  up  every  trait 
and  every  feature  of  the  scene.  "It  is  all  that  I  shall  soon 
have  to  look  back  upon,"  thought  he;  and  yet  to  be  thus 
near  her  seemed  a  bliss  of  perfect  ecstasy. 

More  than  an  hour  passed  over,  and  he  was  still  there, 
not  daring  to  move  lest  he  should  awake  her.  At  last  he 
thought  her  lips  seemed  to  murmur  something.  He  bent 
down,  close  —  so  close  that  he  felt  her  breath  on  his  face. 
Yes,  she  was  dreaming  —  dreaming,  too,  of  long  ago;  for 
he  heard  her  mutter  the  names  of  places  near  where  they 


V 


A  VERY  BRIEF  DREAM.  493 

had  lived  in  Ireland.  It  was  of  some  party  of  pleasure 
she  was  dreaming,  —  her  dropping  words  indicated  so 
much;  and  at  last  she  said,  "No,  no;  not  Lisconnor. 
Jack  does  n't  like  Lisconnor."  Oh,  how  he  blessed  her  for 
the  words ;  and  bending  over,  he  touehed  the  heavy  curl  of 
her  hair  with  his  lips.  Some  passing  shock  startled  her, 
and  she  awoke  with  a  start  and  a  faint  cry.  ''Where  am 
I?"  she  cried;  "what  is  this?"  and  she  stared  at  him  with 
her  wide,  full  glance,  while  her  features  expressed  terror 
and  bewilderment. 

"Don't  be  frightened,  dearest.  You  are  safe,  and  at 
home  with  those  who  love  you." 

"And  how  are  you  here?  how  came  you  here?"  asked 
she,   still  terrified. 

"  I  was  strolling  listlessly  about,  and  chance  led  ne  here. 
I  saw  you  asleep  in  that  chair,  and  I  lay  down  at  your  feet 
till  you  should  awake." 

"I  know  nothing  of  it  at  all,"  muttered  she.  "I  suppose 
I  was  dreaming.  I  fancied  I  was  in  Ireland,  and  we. were 
about  to  go  on  some  excursion,  and  I  thought  Marion  was 
not  pleased  with  me; — how  stupid  it  is  to  try  and  dis- 
entangle a  dream.  You  should  n't  have  been  here.  Master 
Jack.  Except  in  fairy  tales,  young  princes  never  take 
such  liberties  as  this,  and  even  then  the  princesses  are 
under  enchantment." 

"It  is  /  that  am  under  the  spell,  not  you^  Julia,"  said  he, 
fondly. 

"  Then  you  are  come  to  ask  pardon  for  all  your  crossness, 
your  savagery  of  this  morning?  " 

"Yes,  if  you  desire  it." 

"No,  sir;  I  desire  nothing  of  the  kind;  it  must  be  spon- 
taneous humility.  You  must  feel  you  have  behaved  very 
ill,  and  be  very,  very  sorry  for  it." 

"I  have  behaved  very  ill,  and  am  very,  very  sorry  for  it," 
repeated  he,  softly,  after  her. 

"And  this  is  said  seriously?  " 

"Seriously." 

"And  on  honor?" 

"On  honor!" 

"And  why  is  it  said  —  is  it  because  I  have  asked  you  to 
say  it?" 


494  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"Partly;  that  is,  you  have  in  asking  given  me  courage 
to  say  it." 

"Courage  to  ask  pardon!  what  do  you  mean  by  that?" 

"  No ;  but  courage  to  make  me  hope  you  care  to  hear  it. 
Oh,  Julia,  for  once  Hsten  to  me  seriousl}^,  and  let  me  tell 
you  how  I  love  you;  how  I  have  always  loved  you;  how 
you  are  to  me  all  that  is  worth  living   for." 

"It  would  be  very  nice  to  be  told  such  pretty  things,  all 
the  more  being  bound  to  believe  them." 

"And  do  you  doubt?  " 

"I'll  tell  you  what  there  is  not,  nor  can  be  any  doubt 
about.  Jack;  that  we  are  both  very  poor,  and  though  I, 
woman-like,  may  feel  it  a  very  comforting  and  sustaining 
th(^ught,  through  my  poverty,  that  one  honest  heart  beats 
affectionately  for  me,  yet  I  'm  far  from  sure  that  it  would 
be  the  same  good  influence  over  your  life ;  in  fact,  our 
bargain  would  be  unequal,  and  I  should  have  all  the  best 
of  it." 

"Oh,  Julia,  could  you  love  me  —  " 

"I  think  I  've  done  things  fully  as  hard,"  said  she,  with 
affected  thoughtfulness. 

"Do  you  think  me,  then,  so  hopeless  of  advancement  in 
life  that  I  shall  live  and  die  the  humble  creature  you  now 
see  me  ?  " 

"No,  I  don't  think  that.  I  think  if  fate  is  not  very 
dead  ^against  you,  you  a^-e  likely,  whatever  you  turn  to,  or 
wherever  you  go,  to  make  your  way;  but  to  do  this  you 
must  be  heart-whole.  The  selfishness  that  men  call  ambi- 
tion cannot  afford  to  be  weighted  with  thought  of  another 
and  another's  welfare.  Have  a  little  patience  with  me  — 
hear  me  out,  for  I  am  saying  what  I  have  thought  over 
many  and  many  an  hour  —  what  I  have  already  told  Nelly. 
There  's  an  old  Persian  fable  that  says,  the  people  who  love 
on  through  life  are  like  two  lovers  who  walk  on  opposite 
banks  of  a  river,  and  never  meet  till  the  river  mingles  with 
the  ocean,  which  is  eternity,  and  then  they  are  parted  no 
more.  Are  you  satisfied  with  this?  I  thought  not.  Well, 
what  are  your  plans  for  the  future  ?  " 

"I  have  scores  of  them.  If  I  would  take  service  with 
any  of  those  South  American  republics,  there  is  not  one 
would  not  give  me  rank  and  station   to-morrow.     Brazil 


A  VERY   BRIEF   DREAM.  495 

would  take  me.  If  I  offered  myself  to  the  Sultan's  Gov- 
ernment, where  I  am  known,  I  could  hrve  a  command  at 
once." 

"I  don't  know  that  I  like  Turkish  ideas  on  the  married 
state,"  said  she,  gravely. 

"Julia,  Julia!  do  not  torture  me,"  cried  he,  anxiously. 
*'It  is  my  very  life  is  at  stake  —  be  serious  for  once;  "  he 
took  her  hand  tenderly  as  he  spoke,  and  was  bending  down 
to  kiss  it,  when  a  heavy  foot  was  heard  approaching,  and 
suddenly  L' Estrange  burst  into  the  room,  with  an  open 
newspaper  in  his  hand. 

"I  have  got  something  here  will  surprise  you.  Jack,"  he 
cried.  "You  will  be  astonished  to  learn  that  you  owe  your 
escape  from  Ischia  to  no  intrepidity  of  your  own;  that  you 
had  neither  act  nor  part  in  the  matter,  but  that  it  was  ^11 
due  to  the  consummate  skill  of  a  great  diplomatist,  who 
represented  England  at  Naples.  Listen  to  this  —  it  is  'our 
own  special  correspondent'  who  writes:  —  'I  have  naturally 
been  curious  to  ascertain  the  exact  history  of  Rogers' 
escape,  the  journals  of  this  country  having  invested  that 
event  with  most  melodramatic,  I  might  go  further,  and  say 
incredible,  details.  My  own  knowledge  of  the  precautions 
adopted  against  evasion,  and  the  jealous  care  bestowed  by 
the  Neapolitan  Government  towards  political  prisoners, 
rendered  me  slow  to  believe  that  an  unaided  convict  would 
have  the  slightest  chance  of  effecting  his  liberation;  and, 
as  far  as  I  can  learn,  late  events  have  not  diminished,  in 
any  degree,  my  faith  in  this  opinion. 

"  'If  the  stories  which  circulate  in  diplomatic  circles  are 
to  be  credited,  it  was  H.  B.  M's  special  envoy  at  this 
Court  who  planned  the  whole  achievement.  He,  seeing  the 
fatal  obduracy  of  the  King's  Ministers,  and  the  utter  im- 
practicability of  all  proceedings  to  instil  into  them  notions 
of  right  or  honor,  determined,  while  prosecuting  the  cause 
with  unusual  ardor,  to  remove  the  basis  of  the  litigation. 
By  what  bribery  he  effected  his  object,  or  of  whom,  I  do 
not  profess  to  know,  though  very  high  names  are  mentioned 
with  unsparing  freedom  here;  but  the  fact  remains,  that 
when  the  last  despatch  of  the  Foreign  Secretary  was  on  its 
way  to  our   envoy,   Rogers  was   careering   over   the   glad 


496  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

waters  in  one  of  H.  M.'s  steam-launches  —  thus  relieving 
the  controversy  of  a  very  material  and  interesting  item  in 
the  negotiation.  Of  course  this  has  no  other  foundation 
than  mere  rumor;  but  it  is  a  rumor  that  no  one  assumes  to 
discredit,  nor,  indeed,  any  to  deny,  except  the  very  discreet 
officials  of  our  mission  here,  who  naturally  protest  that  it 
is  a  fabrication  of  the  French  press.  The  envoy  is  still 
here,  and  actively  proceeding  against  the  Government  for 
an  indemnity  for  unjust  imprisonment.'  And  now,  Jack, 
here  is  the  best  of  all.  Listen  to  this:  'So  sensible  are  our 
ministers  at  home  of  the  great  service  rendered  by  this 
adroit  measure,  the  relief  experienced  by  the  removal  of 
what  at  any  moment  might  have  become  the  very  gravest 
of  all  questions,  —  that  of  peace  or  war,  —  that  no  reward 
is  deemed  too  high  for  its  distinguished  author,  and  his 
Excellency  Lord  Viscount  Culduff  '  —  Culduff  —  " 

"Lord  Culduff !  "  cried  Jack  and  Julia,  in  amazement. 

"'Viscount  Culduff  has  been  offered  the  post  of  ambas- 
sador at  Constantinople !  '  " 

Jack  snatched  the  paper  from  his  hands,  and  stared  in 
mute  amazement  at  the  lines. 

"And  is  this  the  way  fortunes  are  made  in  the  world?'' 
cried  he,  at  last. 

"Only  in  the  great  walks  of  life,  Jack,"  said  Julia. 
"Small  people  talk  and  labor,  take  service  in  Argentine 
republics,  or  fight  for  Mussulmen;  distinguished  people 
fire  but  one  shot,  but  it  always  explodes  in  the  enemy's 
magazine." 

"I  wonder  what  he  would  have  thought  if  he  had  known 
for  whom  he  was  negotiating,"  said  Jack,  dryly.  "I  half 
suspect  my  distinguished  brother-in-law  would  have  left  me 
in  chains  far  rather  than  drive  down  the  Corso  with  me." 

"I  declare  —  no,  I  won't  say  the  spiteful  thing  that 
crossed  my  mind  —  but  I  will  say,  I  'd  like  to  have  seen  a 
meeting  between  you  and  your  brother  Temple." 

"You  think  he  'd  have  been  so  ashamed  of  me,"  said 
Jack,  with  a  laugh. 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it.  You  might  possibly  have  been  ashamed 
of  the  situation  —  shocked  with  being  such  an  unworthy 
member  of  a  great   house  —  but   he^  Temple,  would   have 


A  VERY  BRIEF  DREAM.  497 

accepted  you  like  a  fever  or  an  ague,  —  a  great  calaraity 
sent  from  above,  —  but  he  would  not  have  felt  shame,  any 
more  than  if  you  had  been  the  scarlatina.  Look  at  poor 
George,"  cried  she,  with  a  merry  laugh.  "He  thinks  I  've 
said  something  very  wicked,  and  he  feels  he  ought  to  deplore 
it  and  possibly  rebuke  me." 

Jack  could  not  help  laughing  at  the  rueful  expression  of 
L'Estrange's  face,  and  his  emotion  was  catching;  for  the 
others  joined  in  the  laugh,  and  in  this  merry  mood  retui-ned 
to  the  garden. 


32 


CHAPTER  LX. 

A   RETURN   HOME. 

The  morning  that  followed  this  scene  broke  very  happily 
on  the  villa;  for  Augustus  was  to  arrive  by  the  afternoon 
packet,  and  all  were  eager  to  meet  him.  His  telegram 
said,  "Cutbill  is  with  me;  but  I  do  not  know  if  he  will 
stop.'*  And  this  announcement,  indeed,  more  than  tem- 
pered the  pleasure  they  felt  at  the  thought  of  meeting 
Augustus. 

Jack,  whose  sailor's  eye  had  detected  a  thin  streak  of 
smoke  in  the  sky  long  ere  the  others  had  seen  it,  and  knew 
by  what  time  the  steamer  might  arrive,  hastened  down  to 
the  shore  to  meet  his  brother  alone,  not  wishing  that  the 
first  meeting  should  be  observed  by  others.  And  he  was  so 
far  right.  Men  as  they  were,  —  tried  and  hardened  by  the 
world's  conflict, — they  could  not  speak  as  they  clasped 
each  other  in  their  arms ;  and  when  they  separated  to  gaze 
at  each  other's  faces,  their  e^^es  swam  in  heavy  tears. 
"  My  poor  fellow !  "  was  all  that  Augustus  could  say  for 
several  minutes,  till,  struck  by  the  manly  vigor  and  digni- 
fied bearing  of  the  other,  he  cried  out,  "What  a  great 
powerful  fellow  you  have  grown.  Jack !  You  are  twice  as 
strong  as  you  used  to  be." 

"Strong  enough.  Gusty;  but  I  suppose  I  shall  need  it  all. 
But  how  comes  it  that  you  have  gray  hair  here  ?  " 

"You  find  me  terribly  changed.  Jack!  I  have  aged 
greatly  since  we  met." 

"You  are  tired,  now,  old  fellow.  A  little  rest,  and  the 
pleasant  care  of  the  villa  will  soon  set  you  up  again." 

•'  Perhaps  so.  At  all  events,  I  have  strength  enough  for 
what  I  am  called  on  to  bear.     How  are  they  all  ?  " 


A  RETURN  HOME.  499 

"Well  and  hearty.  I  'd  say  jollier  than  I  ever  saw  them 
before." 

"What  a  noble  girl  is  Nelly! " 

"Ay,  and  her  companion,  too.  I  tell  you,  Gusty,  there  's 
the  same  comrade  spirit  amongst  girls  that  there  is  in  a 
ship's  company;  and  where  good  ones  come  together  they 
make  each  other  better.  But  tell  me  now  of  yourself. 
What's  your  news?" 

"Not  good;  far  from  it.  I  believe,  indeed,  our  cause  is 
'up.'  He  —  Pracontal,  I  mean  —  intends  to  behave  hand- 
somely by  us.  There  will  be  no  severity  used.  Indeed,  he 
means  to  go  further;  but  I  '11  have  time  enough  for  all  this 
later  on.  I  'm  so  glad  to  see  you  again,  my  poor  dear 
fellow,  that  I  have  no  mind  to  think  of  anything  else." 

"How  did  you  get  rid  of  Cutbill?  " 

"I  have  n't  got  rid  of  him;  he  is  on  board  there.  I  don't 
think  he  means  to  land.  I  suspect  he  '11  go  on  with  the 
steamer  to-night;  and  he  is  so  ashamed  to  show,  that  he  is 
snug  in  his  berth  all  this  time." 

"But  what  does  he  mean  by  that? " 

"He  's  in  a  scrape.  Jack,  and  had  to  get  away  from  Eng- 
land to  save  himself  from  a  jail;  but  I  '11  tell  you  the  story 
this  evening,  —  or,  better  still,  I  '11  make  him  tell  you,  if 
you  can  manage  to  persuade  him  to  come  on  shore." 

"That  he  shall  do,"  said  Jack.  "He  behaved  like  a 
trump  to  me  once  when  I  was  in  trouble;  and  I  don't  forget 
it."  And  so  saying,  he  hastened  on  board  the  packet, 
and  hurried  below,  to  re-appear  in  a  few  minutes,  holding 
Cutbill  by  the  collar,  as  though  he  were  his  prisoner. 

"Here's  the  culprit,"  cried  Jack;  "and  if  he  won't  land 
bis  luggage,  he  must  take  to  a  Montenegro  rig  like  mine ; 
and  he'll  become  it  well." 

"There,  don't  collar  me  that  fashion.  See  how  the  fel- 
lows are  all  staring  at  us.     Have  you  no  decency  ?  " 

"Will  you  come  quietly,  then?  " 

"Yes;  let  them  hand  up  my  two  trunks  and  my  violin 
case.     What  a  droll  place  this  is." 

"There  's  many  a  worse,  I  can  tell  you,  than  our  villa 
yonder.     If  it  were  my  own,  I  'd  never  ask  to  leave  it." 

"Nor   need   you.    Jack,"   whispered   Augustus.       "I've 


500  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOFS  FOLLY. 

brought  back  money  to  buy  it;  and  I  hope  it  will  be  our 
home  this  many  a  day." 

"What's  this  scrape  of  yours,  Cutty?"  said  Jack,  as 
they  made  their  way  homewards.  "  Whom  have  you  been 
robbing  this  time,   or  was  it  forgery  ?  " 

"Let  him  tell  you,"  said  Cutbill,  doggedly,  as  he  motioned 
with  his  hand  towards  Gusty. 

''It 's  a  mixed  case  of  robbery  with  housebreaking,"  said 
Augustus.  "Pracoiital  had  taken  it  into  his  head  that 
certain  papers  of  great  value  to  himself  were  concealed  in 
some  secret  press  in  our  house  at  Castello;  and  Cutbill 
was  just  as  convinced  that  there  were  no  .papers  and  no 
press,  and  that  the  whole  was  a  dream  or  a  delusion.  They 
argued  the  case  so  often  that  they  got  to  quarrel  about  it." 

"No,  we  didn't  quarrel,"  broke  in  Cutbill,  sulkily;  "we 
betted." 

"  Yes,  that  is  more  correct.  Pracontal  was  so  firmly  per- 
suaded that  the  papers  existed  that  he  offered  three  to  one 
on  it,  and  Cutbill,  who  likes  a  good  thing,  took  it  in 
hundreds." 

"No.     I  wish  I  had.     It  was  in  fifties." 

"As  they  had  no  permission  to  make  the  search,  which 
required  to  break  down  the  wall,  and  damage  a  valuable 
fresco  —  " 

"No.  It  was  under  the  fresco,  in  a  pedestal.  I  'd 
engage  to  make  it  good  for  thirty  shillings,"  broke  in 
Cutbill. 

"Well,  we  '11  not  dispute  that.  The  essential  point  is 
that  Pracontal 's  scruples  would  not  permit  him  to  proceed 
to  an  act  of  depredation,  but  that  Cutbill  had  more  resolu- 
tion.    He  wanted  to  determine  the  fact." 

"  Say  that  he  wanted  to  win  his  money,  and  you  '11  be 
nearer  the  mark,"  interposed  Cutbill. 

"Whichever  way  we  take  it,  it  amounts  to  this:  Pracontal 
would  not  be  a  housebreaker,  and  Cutbill  had  no  objection 
to  become  one.  I  cannot  give  you  the  details  of  the  in- 
fraction—  perhaps  he  will." 

Cutbill  only  grunted,  and  the  other  went  on  —  "However 
he  obtained  entrance,  he  made  his  way  to  the  place  indi- 
cated, smashed  the  wall,  and  dragged  forth  a  box  with  four 


A  RETURN  HOME.  501 

or  five  thick  volumes,  which  turned  out  to  be  the  parish 
registries  of  Portshandon  for  a  very  eventful  period,  at 
least  a  very  critical  one  for  us ;  for,  if  the  discovery  loses 
Mr.  Cutbill  his  fifty  pounds,  it  places  the  whole  estate  in 
jeopardy." 

"That 's  the  worst  of  it,"  cried  Cutbill.  "My  confounded 
meddling  has  done  it  all." 

"When  my  lawyer  came  to  hear  what  had  occurred,  and 
how,  he  lost  no  time  in  taking  measures  to  proceed  against 
Cutbill  for  a  felony ;  but  Master  C.  had  got  away,  and  was 
already  hiding  in  Germany,  and  our  meeting  on  the  steam- 
boat here  was  a  mere  hazard.  He  was  bound  for  —  where 
was  it,   Cutbill?" 

"Albania.  I  want  to  see  the  salt  mines.  There  's  some- 
thing to  be  done  there  now  that  the  Turks  are  not  sure 
they'll  own  the  country  this  time  twelvemonth." 

"At  all  events,  it 's  better  air  than  Newgate,"  said  Jack. 

"As  you  politely  observe,  sir,  it 's  better  air  than  New- 
gate. By  the  way,  you  've  been  doing  a  little  stroke  of 
work  as  a  jailbird,   latterly;  is  it  jolly?" 

"  No ;  it  ain't  exactly  jolly  ;  it's  too  monotonous  for  that. 
And  then  the  diet." 

"  Ah,  there  's  the  rub  !  It 's  the  skilly,  it 's  the  four-ounce 
system,  I  'm  afraid  of.  Make  it  a  good  daily  regimen,  and 
I  '11  not  quarrel  with  the  mere  confinement,  nor  ask  for  any 
extension  of  the  time  allotted  to  exercise." 

"I  must  say,"  said  Jack,  "that,  for  a  very  acute  and 
ingenious  gentleman,  this  same  piece  of  burglary  was  about 
one  of  the  stupidest  performances  I  ever  heard  of." 

"  Not  so  fast,  admiral,  not  so  fast.  I  stood  on  a  double 
event.  I  had  lent  Pracontal  a  few  hundreds,  to  be  repaid 
by  as  many  thousands  if  he  established  his  claim.  I  began 
to  repent  of  my  investment,  and  my  bet  was  a  hedge.  Do 
you  see,  old  fellow,  if  there  were  no  books,  I  pocketed  a 
hundred  and  fifty.  If  the  books  turned  up,  I  stood  to  win 
on  the  trial.  You  may  perceive  that  Tom  Cutbill  sleeps  like 
a  weazel,  and  has  always  one  eye  open." 

"  Was  it  a  very  friendly  part,  then,  to  lend  a  man  money 
to  prosecute  a  claim  against  your  own  friend  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"Lord  love  ye,   I'd  do  that  against  my  brother.     The 


502  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

man  of  business  and  the  desk  is  one  thing,  the  man  of 
human  feelings  and  affections  is  another.  If  a  man  follows 
any  pursuit  worth  the  name  of  a  pursuit,  the  ardor  to  suc- 
ceed in  it  will  soon  swamp  his  scruples ;  aye,  and  not  leave 
him  one  jot  the  worse  for  it.  Listen  to  me  a  mmute.  Did 
you  ever  practise  fly-fishing?  Well,  can  you  deny  it  is  in 
principle  as  ignoble  a  thing  as  ever  was  called  sport?  It 
begins  in  a  fraud,  and  it  finishes  with  a  cruelty ;  and  will 
you  tell  me  that  your  moral  nature,  or  any  grand  thing  that 
you  fancy  dignifies  you,  was  impaired  or  stained  when  you 
landed  that  eight-pound  trout  on  the  grass  ?  " 

"  You  forget  that  men  are  not  trout,  Master  Cutbill." 

''  There  are  a  good  number  of  them  gudgeons,  I  am  happy 
to  say,"  cried  he.  "  Give  me  a  light  for  my  cigar,  for  I  am 
sick  of  discussion.  Strange  old  tumble-down  place  this  — 
might  all  be  got  for  a  song,  I  'd  swear.  What  a  grand  speck 
it  would  be  to  start  a  company  to  make  a  watering  place  of 
it :  '  The  Baths  of  Cattaro,  celebrated  in  the  time  of  Diocle- 
tian '  —  eh?  Jack,  does  n't  youi'  mouth  water  at  the  thought 
of  '  preliminary  expenses '  ?  " 

"I  can't  say  it  does.  I've  been  living  among  robbers 
lately,  and  I  found  them  very  dull  company." 

"  The  sailor  is  rude ;  his  manners  smack  of  the  cockpit," 
said  Cutbill,  nudging  Augustus  in  the  side.  "  Oh,  dear,  how 
I  'd  like  a  commission  to  knock  this  old  town  into  a  bathing 
machine." 

''You'll  have  ample  time  to  mature  your  project  up  at 
the  villa.     There,  you  see  it  yonder." 

"And  is  that  the  British  flag  I  see  waving  there?  Wait 
a  moment  till  I  master  my  emotion,  and  subdue  the  swelling 
feelings  of  my  breast." 

"I'll  tell  you  what.  Master  Cutbill,"  said  Jack,  sternly, 
"  if  you  utter  any  stupid  rubbish  against  the  Union  Jack, 
I  '11  be  shot  if  I  don't  drop  you  over  the  sea-wall  for  a 
ducking;  and,  what's  more,  I'll  not  apologize  to  you  when 
you  come  out." 

"  Outrage  the  second.  The  naval  service  is  not  what  I 
remember  it." 

"Here  come  the  gu-ls,'*  said  Augustus.  "  I  hear  Julia's 
merry  laugh  in  the  wood." 

"The   L'Estrange   girl,    isn't   it?"  asked   Cutbill;    and 


A  RETURN  HOME.  603 

though  Jack  started  and  turned  almost  as  if  to  seize  him,  he 
never  noticed  the  movement. 

"  Miss  L'Estrange,"  said  Augustus  Bramleigh. 

"Why  didn't  you  say  she  was  here,  and  I'd  not  have 
made  any  '  bones '  about  stopping  ?  I  don't  know  I  was 
ever  as  spooney  as  I  was  about  that  girl  up  at  Albano. 
And  did  n't  I  work  like  a  negro  to  get  back  her  two  thou- 
sand pounds  out  of  that  precious  coal  mine  ?  Aye,  and  suc- 
ceeded too.  I  hope  she  knows  it  was  Tom  Cutbill  saved 
the  ship.     Maybe  she'll  think  I  've  come  to  claim  salvage." 

"  She  has  heard  of  all  your  good-nature,  and  is  very 
grateful  to  you,"  said  Gusty. 

"  That's  right;  that's  as  it  ought  to  be.  Doing  good  by 
stealth  always  strikes  me  as  savoring  of  a  secret  society. 
It 's  Thuggee,  or  Fenian,  or  any  other  dark  association  you 
like." 

"I'll  go  forward  and  meet  them,  if  you'll  permit  me," 
said  Augustus,  and,  not  waiting  a  reply,  hurried  on  towards 
the  wood. 

"Look  here,  Master  Jack,"  said  Cutbill,  stopping  short 
and  facing  round  in  front  of  him.  "  If  you  mean  as  a  prac- 
tice to  sit  upon  me,  every  occasion  that  arises,  just  please  to 
say  so." 

"  Nothing  of  the  kind,  man ;  if  I  did,  I  promise  you  once 
would  be  quite  enough." 

"  Oh,  that  's  it,  is  it?" 

"  Yes,  that 's  it." 

"Shake  hands,  then,  and  let  us  have  no  more  squabbling. 
If  you  ever  find  me  getting  into  shoal-water,  and  likely  to 
touch  a  sandbank,  just  call  out  '  Stop  her ! '  and  you  '11  see 
how  I  '11  reverse  my  engine  at  once.  It 's  not  in  my  line,  the 
locomotives,  but  I  could  drive  if  I  was  put  to  it,  and  I  know 
well  every  good  lesson  a  man  acquires  from  the  practice." 

"What  do  you  think  of  this  cause  of  ours,  Cutty;  how 
does  it  look  to  your  eyes?" 

' '  Just  as  dark  as  thunder !  Why  you  go  to  trial  at  all 
next  term  I  can't  make  out.  Pracontal's  case  is  clear  as 
noonday.  There  's  the  proof  of  the  marriage,  —  as  legal  a 
marriage  as  if  an  archbishop  celebrated  it,  —  and  there  's  the 
registry  of  birth,  and  there  is,  to  confirm  all,  old  Bramleigh's 


604  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

letters.  If  you  push  on  after  such  a  show  of  danger  signals 
as  these,  it  is  because  you  must  like  a  smash." 

"  You'd  strike,  then,  without  firing  a  shot?  " 

"  To  be  sure  I  would,  if  it  was  only  to  save  the  expense  of 
the  powder ;  besides,  Pracontal  has  already  declared,  that  if 
met  by  an  amicable  spirit  on  your  brother's  part,  there  are 
no  terms  he  w^ould  not  accede  to,  to  secure  recognition  by 
your  family,  and  acceptance  as  one  of  you." 

''  I  'm  sure  I  don't  see  why  he  should  care  for  it." 

"Nor  I,  for  the  matter  of  that.  If  there's  a  lot  in  life 
I  'd  call  enviable,  it  would  be  to  be  born  in  a  foundling  hos- 
pital, and  inherit  ten  thousand  a  year.  A  landed  estate,  and 
no  relations,  comes  nearer  to  m}^  ideas  of  Paradise  than  any- 
thing in  Milton's  poems." 

"Here  they  come,"  cried  Jack,  as  a  merry  group  issued 
from  the  road,  and  came  joyously  forward  to  meet  them. 

"  Here 's  this  good  fellow  Tom  Cutbill  come  to  spend  some 
days  with  us,"  said  Jack,  as  the  girls  advanced  to  greet  him. 

"  Is  n't  it  kind  of  him?  "  said  Cutbill ;  "  is  n't  it  like  that 
disinterested  good-nature  that  always  marks  him?  Of  course 
I'm  heartily  welcome!  how  could  it  be  otherwise?  Miss 
Bramleigh,  you  do  me  proud.  Miss  Julia,  your  slave.  Ah, 
your  reverence !  let 's  have  a  shake  of  your  devout  paw. 
Now  I  call  this  as  pleasant  a  place  for  a  man  to  go  through 
his  sentence  of  transportation  as  need  be.  Do  the  ladies 
know  what  I  'm  charged  with  ?  " 

"They  know  nothing,  they  desire  to  know  nothing,"  said 
Augustus.  "When  we  have  dined  and  had  our  coffee,  you 
shall  make  your  own  confession ;  and  that  only  if  3^ou  like 
it,  and  wish  to  disburden  your  conscience." 

"  My  conscience  is  pretty  much  like  my  balance  at  my 
banker's  —  it 's  a  mighty  small  matter,  but  somehow  it  never 
troubles  me ;  and  you  '11  see  by-and-by  that  it  does  n't  inter- 
fere with  my  appetite." 

"  You  saw  my  sister  at  Naples,  Mr.  Cutbill,"  said  Nelly; 
"how  was  she  looking?" 

"  Decidedly  handsome ;  and  as  haughty  as  handsome;  as 
an  Irish  friend  who  was  walking  with  me  one  day  her  car- 
riage passed,  observed,  '  A  bow  from  her  was  the  next  thing 
to  a  black-eye.' " 


A  RETURN  HOME.  605 

"Marion's  pride  always  became  her,"  said  Nelly,  coldly. 

'*  It  must  be  a  comfort  to  her  to  feel  she  has  a  great  stock 
of  what  suits  her  constitution." 

"And  the  noble  Viscount,"  asked  Jack,  "how  was  he 
looking  ?  " 

"As  fresh  as  paint.  The  waxworks  in  the  museum 
seemed  faded  and  worn  after  him.  He  was  in  an  acute 
attack  of  youth,  the  day  I  dined  with  him  last,  and  I  hope 
his  system  has  not  suffered  for  it." 

"Stop  her,"  muttered  Jack,  with  a  sly  look  at  Cutbill; 
and  to  the  surprise  of  the  others,  that  astute  individual 
rejoined,   "  Stop  her,  it  is." 

"  We  dine  at  four,  I  think?  "  said  Bramleigh,  "  and  there 's 
just  time  to  dress.  Jack,  take  charge  of  Cutbill,  and  show 
him  where  he  is  to  lodge." 

"  And  is  it  white  choker  and  a  fiddle  coat?  Do  you  tell 
me  you  dress  for  dinner?"  asked  Cutbill. 

"Mr.  Cutbill  shall  do  exactly  as  he  pleases,"  said  Julia; 
"  we  only  claim  a  like  privilege  for  ourselves." 

"You've  got  it  now,  Tom  Cutbill,"  said  he,  sorrowfully, 
"and  I  hope  you  like  it." 

And  with  this  they  went  their  several  ways ;  Jack  alone 
lingering  in  the  garden  in  the  hope  to  have  one  word  with 
Julia,  but  she  did  not  return,  and  his  "watch  on  deck,"  as 
he  called  it,  was  not  relieved. 


CHAPTER  LXI. 

LADY    CULDUFF's    LETTER. 

A  LONG  letter,  a  letter  of  several  pages,  from  Marion, 
reached  the  villa ;  and  though  it  is  not  my  intention  to  ask 
the  reader  to  listen  to  it  textually  or  throughout,  I  crave 
permission  to  give  certain  parts  of  its  contents. 

As  Lady  Culduff  prospered  in  the  world,  she  became  what 
she  thought  "  devout,"  and  perpetually  reminded  all  around 
her  that  she  was  well  aware  she  was  living  in  a  very  sinful 
world,  and  keeping  daily  company  with  transgressors ;  and 
she  actually  brought  herself  to  believe  that  by  a  repeated 
reference  to  the  wickedness  of  this  life,  she  was  entering 
a  formal  protest  against  sin,  and  qualifying  herself,  at  this 
very  cheap  price,  for  something  much  better  hereafter. 

She  was  —  and  it  was  a  pet  phrase  with  her  —  "  resigned  " 
to  everything :  resigned  to  Lord  Culduff' s  being  made  a 
grand  cross  and  an  ambassador,  with  the  reasonable  pros- 
pect of  an  earldom ;  resigned  to  her  own  great  part  —  and 
was  it  not  a  great  part? — in  this  advancement;  resigned 
to  be  an  ambassadress !  That  she  was  resigned  to  the  ruin 
and  downfall  of  her  family,  especially  if  they  should  have 
tlie  delicacy  and  good  taste  to  hide  themselves  somewhere, 
and  not  obtrude  that  ruin  and  downfall  on  the  world,  was 
plainly  manifest;  and  when  she  averred  that,  come  what 
might,  we  ought  to  be  ever  assured  that  all  things  were  for 
the  best,  she  meant  in  reality  to  say,  it  was  a  wise  dispen- 
sation that  sent  herself  to  live  in  a  palace  at  Pera,  and 
left  her  brothers  and  sisters  to  shiver  out  existence  in 
barbarism. 

There  was  not  a  shadow  of  hypocrisy  in  all  this.  She 
believed  every  word  she  said  upon  it.  She  accepted  the 
downfall  of  her  family  as  her  share  of  those  ills  which  are 
the  common  lojt  of  humanity ;   and  she  was  very  proud  of 


LADY  CULDUFF'S  LETTER.  507 

the  fortitude  that  sustained  her  under  this  heavy  trial,  and 
of  that  resignation  that  enabled  her  not  to  grieve  over  these 
things  in  an  unseemly  fashion,  or  in  any  way  that  might 
tell  on  her  complexion. 

"  After  that  splendid  success  of  Culduff's  at  Naples," 
wrote  she,  "of  which  the  newspapers  are  full,  I  need  not 
remind  you  that  we  ought  to  have  had  Paris,  and,  indeed, 
must  have  had  it,  but  the  Ministry  made  it  a  direct  and 
personal  favor  of  Culduff  that  he  would  go  and  set  that 
troublesome  Eastern  question  to  rights.  As  you  know  noth- 
ing of  politics,  dear  Nelly,  and,  indeed,  are  far  happier  in 
that  ignorance,  I  shall  not  enter  upon  what,  even  with  the 
fullest  explanation,  would  only  bewilder  you.  Enough  if 
you  know  that  we  have  to  out-manoeuvre  the  Russians,  baffle 
the  French,  and  bully  the  Greeks ;  and  that  there  is  not  for 
the  task  Culduff's  equal  in  England.  I  think  I  see  your 
astonishment  that  I  should  talk  of  such  themes :  they  were 
not  certainly  the  sort  of  subjects  which  once  occupied  our 
thoughts :  but,  my  dear  Nelly,  in  linking  your  fate  to  that 
of  a  man  of  high  ambition,  you  accept  the  companionship  of 
his  intellect,  instead  of  a  share  in  his  heart.  And,  as  you 
well  know  I  always  repudiated  the  curate  and  cottage  the- 
ory, I  accept  the  alternative  without  repining.  Can  I  teach 
you  any  of  this  philosophy,  Nelly,  and  will  it  lighten  the 
load  of  your  own  sorrows  to  learn  how  I  have  come  to  bear 
mine  ?  It  is  in  the  worldliness  of  people  generally  lies  their 
chief  unhappiness.  They  will  not,  as  Culduff  says,  '  accept 
the  situation.'  Now  we  have  accepted  it,  we  submit  to  it,  and, 
in  consequence,  suffer  fewer  heart-burnings  and  repinings 
than  our  neighbors.  Dear  Augustus  never  had  any  costly 
tastes ;  and  as  for  yourself,  simplicity  was  your  badge  in 
everything.  Temple  is  indeed  to  be  pitied,  for  Temple,  with 
money  to  back  him,  might  have  made  a  respectable  figure  in 
the  world  and  married  well ;  but  Temple,  a  poor  man,  must 
fall  down  to  a  second-class  legation,  and  look  over  the  Min- 
ister's larder.  Culduff  tried,  but  failed  to  make  something 
of  him.  As  C.  told  him  one  day,  you  have  only  to  see 
Charles  Mathews  act,  to  be  convinced  that  to  be  a  coxcomb 
a  man  must  be  consummately  clever ;  and  yet  it  is  exactly 
the  *  r61e '  every  empty  fellow  fancies  would  suit  him.     T. 


508  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

resented  this,  well  meant  as  it  was,  and  resigned  his  secre- 
taryship.  He  has  gone  over  to  England,  but  I  do  not  im- 
agine with  much  prospect  of  re-employment. 

"  Do  not  think,  my  dear  Nelly,  of  quitting  your  present 
refuge.  You  are  safe  now,  and  in  harbor,  and  be  slow  to 
adventure  on  that  wide  ocean  of  life  where  shipwrecks  are 
occurring  on  every  hand.  So  long  as  one  is  obscure,  pov- 
erty has  no  terrors.  As  Culduff  says,  you  may  always  wear 
a  ragged  coat  in  the  dark.  It  is  we,  who  unfortunately 
must  walk  in  the  noonday,  cannot  be  seen  unless  in  fine 
raiment.  Do  not  mistake  me,  however.  I  say  this  with- 
out complaint;    I  repine  at  nothing. 

''  I  had  written  so  much  of  my  letter,  dear  Nelly,  intend- 
ing to  finish  it  at  Rome ;  but  Culduff  is  obliged  to  hurry  on 
to  Ischl,  where  some  great  diplomatic  gathering  is  now 
assembled,  and  I  must  omit  a  number  of  things  I  desire  to 
say  to  you. 

' '  Culduff  thinks  we  must  call  on  Lady  Augusta  as  we  go 
through.  I  own  I  have  done  my  best  to  avoid  this,  and  if  I 
must  go,  it  will  not  be  in  the  best  of  tempers.  The  oddest 
thing  of  all  is,  C.  dislikes  her  fully  as  much  as  I  do ;  but 
there  is  some  wonderful  freemasonry  among  these  people 
that  obliges  them,  like  the  members  of  a  secret  society,  to 
certain  egards  towards  each  other ;  and  I  am  satisfied  he 
would  rather  do  a  positive  wrong  to  some  one  in  middle-class 
life  than  be  wanting  in  some  punctilio  or  attention  to  a 
person  of  her  condition.  I  have  often  been  much  provoked 
by  displays  of  this  sentiment,  needlessly  paraded  to  offend 
my  own  sense  of  propriety.  I  shall  add  a  line  after  my 
visit. 

"  Rome. 

''I  have  news  for  you.  M.  Pracontal  —  if  this  be  his 
name  —  not  only  takes  your  estates,  but  your  stepmother. 
The  odious  woman  had  the  effrontery  to  tell  us  so  to  our 
faces.  How  I  bore  it,  what  I  said,  or  felt,  or  suffered,  I 
know  not.  Some  sort  of  fit,  I  believe,  seized  me,  for  Cul- 
duff sent  for  a  physician  when  I  got  back  to  the  hotel,  and 
our  departure  was  deferred. 

"  The  outrage  of  this  conduct  has  so  shaken  my  nerves 
that  I  can  scarcely  write,  nor  is  my  sense  of  indignation 


LADY   CULDUFF'S   LETTER.  509 

lessened  by  the  levity  with  which  it  pleases  Culduff  to  treat 
the  whole  matter.  '  It  is  a  bold  coup  —  a  less  courageous 
woman  would  have  recoiled  from  it  —  she  is  very  daring.' 
This  is  what  he  says  of  her.  She  has  the  courage  that  says 
to  the  world,  '  I  am  ready  to  meet  all  your  censures  and 
your  reproaches ;  '  but  I  never  heard  this  called  heroism 
before.  Must  I  own  to  you,  Nelly,  that  what  overwhelms 
me  most  in  this  disgraceful  event  is  the  confidence  it  evinces 
in  this  man's  cause.  '  You  may  swear,'  said  Culduff,  '  that 
she  is  backing  the  winner.  Women  are  timid  gamblers,  and 
never  risk  their  money  without  almost  every  chance  in  their 
favor.'  I  know  that  my  Lord  plumes  himself  on  knowing 
a  great  deal  about  us,  prompting  him  at  times  to  utter  much 
that  is  less  than  complimentary ;  but  I  give  you  this  opinion 
of  his  here  for  what  it  is  worth,  frankly  owning  that  my 
dislike  to  the  woman  is  such  I  can  be  no  fair  judge  of  any 
ease  into  which  she  enters. 

"  Pracontal  —  I  only  saw  him  for  an  instant —  struck  me 
as  a  third-class  Frenchman,  something  between  a  sous-officier 
of  cavalry  and  a  commis-voyageur ;  not  ill-looking,  and  set 
up  with  that  air  of  the  soldier  that  in  France  does  duty  for 
dignity.  He  had  a  few  hasty  words  with  Culduff,  but  did 
not  persist  nor  show  any  desire  to  make  a  row  in  presence 
of  ladies.  So  far,  his  instincts  as  a  corporal  guided  him 
safely.  Had  he  been  led  by  the  commis-voyageitr  side  of 
his  character,  we  should  have  had  a  most  disgraceful  scene, 
ending  by  a  hostile  meeting  between  a  British  peer  and  a 
bagman. 

'^  My  nerves  have  been  so  shaken  by  this  incident,  and  my 
recollection  is  still  so  charged  with  this  odious  woman's  look, 
voice,  and  manner,  that  I  cannot  trust  myself  to  say  more. 
Be  assured,  dear  Nelly,  that  in  all  the  miserable  details  of  this 
great  calamity  to  our  family,  no  one  event  has  occurred 
equal  in  poignant  suffering  to  the  insult  I  have  thus  been 
subjected  to. 

"  Culduff  will  not  agree  to  it,  but  I  declare  to  you  she  was 
positively  vulgar  in  the  smirking  complacence  in  which  she 
presented  the  man  as  her  future  husband.  She  was  already 
passee  when  she  married  my  father,  and  the  exuberant  joy 
at   this  proposal  revealed    the    old    maid's   nature.     C,   of 


510  THE   BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOPS  FOLLY. 

course,  calls  her  charming,  a  woman  of  very  attractive  quali- 
ties and  such  like ;  but  men  of  a  certain  age  have  ideas  of 
their  own  on  these  subjects,  and,  like  their  notions  on 
cookery,  make  no  converts  among  people  under  forty.  I 
believe  I  told  him  so,  and,  in  consequence,  the  whole  theme 
has  been  strictly  avoided  by  each  of  us  ever  since." 

The  remainder  of  the  letter  was  devoted  to  details  as  to 
her  future  life  at  Constantinople,  and  the  onerous  duties 
that  would  devolve  on  her  as  ambassadress.  She  hinted 
also  to  a  time  when  she  would  ask  dear  Nelly  to  come  and 
visit  her;  but,  of  course,  until  matters  were  fully  settled 
and  concluded,  she  could  not  expect  her  to  leave  dear 
Gusty. 

The  postscript  ran  thus  :  —  "  Culduff  meant  to  have  given 
some  small  Church  promotion  to  young  L'Estrange,  and, 
indeed,  believed  he  had  done  so:  but  some  difficulty  has 
arisen.  It  is  either  not  his  turn,  or  the  Bishop  is  trouble- 
some, or  the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners  —  if  there  be 
such  people  —  are  making  objections.  If  he  —  I  mean 
L'Estrange  —  be  still  disengaged,  would  it  be  wise  to  offer 
him  the  chaplaincy  to  the  embassy  ?  I  mean  wise  as  regards 
ourselves ;  but  I  take  it  the  sister  may  be  still  unmarried, 
and  if  she  be  like  what  I  remember  her,  a  person  not  easily 
suppressed,  nor  at  all  indisposed  to  assume  airs  of  perfect 
equality,  even  with  those  separated  from  her  by  a  whole 
hemisphere  of  station.  Give  me  your  candid  advice  on  this 
point,  not  thinking  of  them,  but  of  me,  for  though  I  feel 
Julia — is  not  that  her  name?  —  would  be  insupportable, 
the  parson  himself  would  be  very  useful,  and  I  think  a 
comfort  to  me. 

"  Of  course  you  will  not  consult  any  one  upon  this  matter. 
It  is  your  own  personal  opinion  I  want,  and  you  will  give 
it  to  me,  knowing  me  and  my  prejudices,  —  I  suppose  I 
had  better  call  them,  —  and  not  thinking  of  your  own  lean- 
ings and  likings  for  the  girl.  She  may,  for  aught  I  know, 
have  changed.  Culduff  has  some  wise  saw  about  acid  wines 
growing  dry  by  age;  I  don't  know  whether  young  ladies 
mellow  in  this  fashion,  but  Julia  was  certainly  tart  enough 
once  to  have  tested  the  theory,  and  might  be  the  'Amon- 
tillado' of  old  maids  by  this  time." 


LADY  CULDUFF'S  LETTER.  611 

It  may  be  imagined  that  after  a  sally  of  this  kind  it  was 
not  easy  for  the  writer  to  recover  that  semi-moralizing  vein 
in  which  the  letter  opened.  Nor  did  she.  The  conclusion 
was  abrupt,  and  merely  directed  Nelly  to  address  her  next 
to  the  Summer  Palace  atTherapia;  "  for  those  horrid  people, 
our  predecessors,  have  left  the  embassy  house  in  such  a 
condition  it  will  take  weeks  and  several  thousand  pounds 
to  make  it  habitable.  There  must  be  a  vote  taken  '  in 
supply '  on  this.  I  am  writing  Greek  to  you,  poor  child ; 
but  I  mean  they  must  give  us  money,  and,  of  course,  the 
discussion  will  expose  us  to  many  impertinences.  One 
writer  declared  that  he  never  knew  of  a  debate  on  the  es- 
timates without  an  allusion  to  Lord  Culduff's  wig.  We 
shall  endure  this  —  if  not  with  patience,  without  resent- 
ment.   Love  to  dear  Gusty,  and  believe  me  your  affectionate 

sister 

''  Marion  Culduff." 

Such  were  the  most  striking  passages  of  a  long  letter 
which,  fortunately  for  Nelly,  Mr.  Cutbill's  presence  at  the 
breakfast-table  rescued  her  from  the  indiscretion  of  reading 
aloud.  One  or  two  extracts  she  did  give,  but  soon  saw  that 
the  document  was  one  which  could  not  be  laid  on  the  table, 
nor  given  without  prejudice  to  the  public  service.  Her  con- 
fusion, as  she  crumpled  up  the  paper,  and  thrust  it  back 
into  its  envelope,  was  quickly  remarked,  and  Mr.  Cutbill, 
with  his  accustomed  tact,  observed,  "I'd  lay  a  'fiver' 
we  've  all  of  us  been  led  out  for  a  canter  in  that  epistle.  It 's 
enough  to  see  Miss  Ellen's  face  to  know  that  she  would  n't 
read  it  out  for  fifty  pounds.  Eh,  what !  "  cried  he,  stooping 
and  rubbing  his  leg ;  "I  told  you  to  say,  '  Stop  her,  Master 
Jack,'  when  you  wanted  to  take  weigh  off,  but  I  never  said, 
*Kick  my  shins.'" 

This  absurd  exclamation,  and  the  laugh  it  provoked,  was 
a  lucky  diversion,  and  they  arose  from  table  without  another 
thought  on  Marion's  epistle. 

"Has  Nelly  shown  you  Marion's  note?"  asked  Jack,  as 
he  strolled  with  Julia  through  the  garden. 

"  No,  and  it  is  perhaps  the  only  letter  I  ever  knew  her  to 
get  without  handing  me  to  read." 

"  I  suspect,  with  Cutbill,  that  we  all  of  us  catch  it  in  that 
pleasant  document." 


512  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

''  You  perhaps  are  the  only  one  who  has  escaped." 

"As  for  me,  I  am  not  even  remembered.  Well,  I'll 
bear  even  that,  if  I  can  be  sure  of  a  little  sympathy  in 
another  quarter." 

"  Master  Jack,  you  ask  for  too  many  professions.  I  have 
told  you  already  to-day,  and  I  don't  mean  to  repeat  it  for  a 
week,  that  you  are  not  odious  to  me." 

"But  will  you  not  remember,  Julia,  the  long  months  of 
banishment  I  have  suffered?  Will  you  not  bear  in  mind 
that  if  I  have  lived  longingly  for  this  moment,  it  is  cruel  now 
to  dash  it  with  a  doubt.'* 

"  But  it  is  exactly  what  I  am  not  doing!  I  have  given 
you  fully  as  much  encouragement  as  is  good  for  you.  I  have 
owned  —  and  it  is  a  rash  confession  for  a  girl  to  make  at  any 
time  —  that  I  care  for  you  more  than  any  part  of  our  pros- 
pects for  the  future  could  warrant,  and  if  I  go  one  step 
further  there  will  be  nothing  for  it  but  for  you  to  buy  a 
bragotza  and  turn  fisherman,  and  for  me  to  get  a  basket  and 
sell  pilchards  in  the  piazza." 

"  You  need  n't  taunt  me  with  my  poverty,  I  feel  it 
bitterly  enough  already.  Nor  have  you  any  right  to  think 
me  unable  to  win  a  living." 

"  There,  again,  you  wrong  me.  I  only  said.  Do  not,  in 
your  impatience  to  reach  your  goal,  make  it  not  worth  the 
winning.  Don't  forget  what  I  told  you  about  long  engage- 
ments.    A  man's  share  of  them  is  the  worst." 

"  But  you  love  me,  Julia?  "  said  he,  drawing  her  close  to 
him. 

"  How  tiresome  you  are !  "  said  she,  trying  to  free  herself 
from  his  arm. 

"Let  me  once  —  only  once  —  hear  you  say  this,  and  I 
swear  to  you,  Julia,  I  '11  never  tease  you  more." 

"Well,  then  if  I  must  — " 

More  was  not  spoken,  for  the  lips  were  pressed  by  a  rap- 
turous kiss,  as  he  clasped  her  to  his  heart,  muttering,  "My 
own,  my  own  !  " 

"  I  declare  there  is  Nelly,"  cried  Julia,  wresting  herself 
from  his  embrace,  and  starting  off;  not,  however,  towards 
Ellen,  but  in  the  direction  of  the  house. 

"  Oh,  Nelly,"  said  Jack,  rushing  towards  his  sister,  "  she 
loves  me  —  she  has  said  so  —  she  is  all  my  own.'* 


LADY   CULDUFF'S  LETTER.  513 

*'  Of  course  she  is,  Jack.  I  never  doubted  it,  though  I 
own  I  scarcely  thought  she'd  have  told  it." 

And  the  brother  and  sister  walked  along  hand  in  hand 
without  speaking,  a  closer  pressure  of  the  fingers  at  intervals 
alone  revealing  how  they  followed  the  same  thoughts  and 
lived  in  the  same  joys. 


33 


CHAPTER   LXII. 

DEALING    WITH    CUTBILL. 

*' What's  to  be  done  with  Cutbill?  —  will  any  one  tell  me 
this?  "  was  the  anxious  question  Augustus  asked  as  he  stood 
in  a  group  composed  of  Jack,  Nelly,  and  the  L'Estranges. 
"  As  to  Sedley  meeting  him  at  all,  I  know  that  is  out  of 
the  question ;  but  the  mere  fact  of  finding  the  man  here 
will  so  discredit  us  in  Sedley's  eyes  that  it  is  more  than 
likely  he  will  pitch  up  the  whole  case  and  say  good-bye  to 
us  forever." 

"  But  can  he  do  that?  "  asked  Julia.  ''  Can  he,  I  mean, 
permit  a  matter  of  temper  or  personal  feeling  to  interfere 
in  a  dry  affair  of  duty  ?  " 

' '  Of  course  he  can ;  where  his  counsels  are  disregarded 
and  even  counteracted  he  need  not  continue  his  guidance. 
He  is  a  hot-tempered  man  besides,  and  has  more  than  once 
shown  me  that  he  will  not  bear  provocation  beyond  certain 
limits." 

"I  think,"  began  L'Estrange,  "  if  I  were  in  your  place, 
I  'd  tell  Cutbill.  I  'd  explain  to  him  how  matters  stood ; 
and  —  " 

"No,  no,"  broke  in  Jack;  "that  won't  do  at  all.  The 
poor  dog  is  too  hard  up  for  that." 

"Jack  is  right,"  said  Nelly,  warmly. 

"  Of  course  he  is,  so  far  as  Mr.  Cutbill  goes,"  broke  in 
Julia;  "  but  we  want  to  do  right  to  every  one.  Now,  how 
about  your  brother  and  his  suit?  " 

"  What  if  I  were  to  show  him  this  letter,"  said  Augustus, 
"  to  let  him  see  that  Sedley  means  to  be  here  to-morrow,  to 
remain  at  farthest  three  days ;  is  it  not  likely  Cutbill  would 
himself  desu-e  to  avoid  meeting  him?" 


DEALING  WITH   CUTBILL.  515 

"Not  a  bit  of  it,"  cried  Jack.  "It's  the  thing  of  all 
others  he  'd  glory  in ;  he  'd  be  full  of  all  the  lively  imperti- 
nences that  he  could  play  off  on  the  lawyer ;  and  he  'd  write  a 
comic  song  on  him  —  ay,  and  sing  it  in  his  own  presence." 

"  Nothing  more  likely,"  said  Julia,  gravely. 

"  Then  what  is  to  be  done?  Is  there  no  escape  out  of  the 
difficulty?  "  asked  Augustus. 

"  Yes,"  said  Nelly,  "  I  think  there  is.  The  way  I  should 
advise  would  be  this :  I  'd  show  Mr.  Cutbill  Sedley's  letter, 
and  taking  him  into  counsel,  as  it  were,  on  the  embarrass- 
ment of  his  own  position,  I'd  say,  '  We  must  hide  you  some- 
where for  these  three  days.'  " 

"But  he  wouldn't  see  it,  Nelly.  He'd  laugh  at  your 
delicate  scruples ;  he  'd  say,  '  That 's  the  one  man  in  all 
Europe  I  'm  dying  to  meet.'  " 

"  Nelly  is  quite  right,  notwithstanding,"  said  Julia. 
"  There  is  more  than  one  side  to  Mr.  Cutbill's  nature.  He  'd 
like  to  be  thought  a  very  punctilious  gentleman  fully  as 
much  as  a  very  jocose  companion.  Make  him  believe  that 
in  keeping  out  of  sight  here  at  this  moment  he  will  be 
exercising  a  most  refined  delicacy  —  doing  what  nothing 
short  of  a  high-bred  sensibility  would  ever  have  dreamed  of, 
—  and  you  '11  see  he  '11  be  as  delighted  with  his  part  as  ever 
he  was  with  his  coarse  drollery.  And  here  he  comes  to  test 
my  theory  about  him." 

As  she  spoke  Cutbill  came  lounging  up  the  garden  walk, 
too  busily  engaged  in  making  a  paper  cigarette  to  see  those 
in  front  of  him. 

"I'm  sure,  Mr.  Cutbill,  that  cigarette  must  be  intended 
for  me,"  cried  Julia,  "  seeing  all  the  pains  you  are  bestowing 
on  its  manufacture." 

"Ah,  Miss  Julia,  if  I  could  only  believe  that  you'd 
let  me  corrupt  your  morals  to  the  extent  of  a  pinch  of 
Latakia  —  " 

"  Give  me  Sedley's  letter.  Gusty,"  said  Nelly,  "  and  leave 
the  whole  arrangement  to  me.  Mr.  Cutbill,  will  you  kindly 
let  me  have  three  minutes  of  your  company?  I  want  a 
bit  of  advice  from  you."  And  she  took  his  arm  as  she 
spoke  and  led  him  down  the  garden.  She  wasted  no  time 
in   preliminaries,   but   at  once  came  to  the   point,   saying, 


516  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"We're  in  what  you  would  call  'a  fix'  this  morning.  Mr. 
Cutbill :  my  brother's  lawyer,  Mr.  Sedley,  is  coming  here 
most  unexpectedly.  We  know  that  some  unpleasant  pas- 
sages have  occurred  between  you  and  that  gentleman,  making 
a  meeting  between  you  quite  impossible ;  and  in  the  great 
difficulty  of  the  moment  I  have  charged  myself  with  the 
solution  of  the  embarrassment,  and  now  begin  to  see  that 
without  your  aid  I  am  powerless.  Will  you  help  me ;  that 
is,  will  you  advise  with  or  for  me?" 

"  Of  course  I  will ;  but,  first  of  all,  where  's  the  difficulty 
you  speak  of  ?  I  'd  no  more  mind  meeting  this  man  —  sit- 
ting next  him  at  dinner,  if  you  like  —  than  I  would  an  old 
creditor  —  and  I  have  a  good  many  of  them  —  that  I  never 
mean  to  pay." 

"We  never  doubted  your  tact,  Mr.  Cutbill,"  said  she, 
with  a  strong  emphasis  on  the  pronoun. 

"If  so,  then  the  matter  is  easy  enough.  Tact  always 
serves  for  two.  If  /  be  the  man  you  take  me  for,  that 
crabbed  old  fellow  will  love  me  like  a  brother  before  the  first 
day  is  over." 

"That's  not  the  question,  Mr.  Cutbill.  Your  personal 
powers  of  captivation  no  one  disputes,  if  only  they  get  a  fair 
field  for  theii'  exercise ;  but  what  we  fear  is  that  Mr.  Sedley, 
being  the  hot-tempered,  hasty  man  he  is,  will  not  give  you 
this  chance.  My  brother  has  twice  already  been  on  the 
verge  of  a  rupture  with  him  for  having  acted  on  his  own 
independent  judgment.  I  believe  nothing  but  his  regard  for 
poor  dear  papa  would  have  made  him  forgive  Augustus  ;  and 
when  I  tell  you  that  in  the  present  critical  state  of  our  cause 
his  desertion  of  us  would  be  fatal,  I  am  sure  you  will  do 
anything  to  avert  such  a  calamity." 

"  Let  us  meet.  Miss  Ellen;  let  us  dine  together  once  —  I 
onl}^  ask  once  —  and  if  I  don't  borrow  money  from  him 
before  he  takes  his  bedroom  candle,  you  may  scratch  Tom 
Cutbill,  and  put  him  off  'the  course'  forever.  What  does 
that  impatient  shrug  of  the  shoulders  mean?  Is  it  as  much 
as  to  say,  '  What  a  conceited  snob  it  is  !  '  eh  ?  " 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Cutbill,  you  could  n't  possibly  —  " 

"  Could  n't  I,  though?  And  don't  I  know  well  that  I  am 
just  as  vain  of  my  little  talents  —  as  your  friend,  Miss  Julia, 


DEALING   WITH   CUTBILL.  517 

called  them  —  as  you  and  others  are  ready  to  ridicule  them ; 
but  the  real  difference  between  us  after  all  is  this :  Yoic 
think  the  world  at  large  is  a  monstrous  clever  creature,  with 
great  acuteness,  great  discrimination,  and  great  delicacy ; 
and  I  know  it  to  be  a  great  overgrown  bully,  mistaking  half 
it  hears,  and  blundering  all  it  says,  so  that  any  one,  I  don't 
care  who  he  is,  that  will  stand  out  from  the  crowd  in  life, 
think  his  own  thoughts  and  guide  his  own  actions,  may  just 
do  what  he  pleases  with  that  unwieldy  old  monster,  making 
it  believe  it 's  the  master,  all  the  while  it  is  a  mere  slave  and 
a  drudge.  There 's  another  shrug  of  the  shoulders.  Why 
not  say  it  out  —  you're  a  puppy,  Tom  Cutbill?" 

"  First  of  all  it  would  n't  be  polite,  and  secondly  —  " 

*'  Never  mind  the  secondly.  It 's  quite  enough  for  me  to 
see  that  I  have  not  convinced  you,  nor  am  I  half  as  clever  a 
fellow  as  I  think  myself ;  and  do  you  know,  you  're  the  first 
I  ever  knew  dispute  the  position." 

"But  I  do  not.  I  subscribe  to  it  implicitly  ;  my  presence 
here,  at  this  moment,  attests  how  I  believe  it.  It  is  exactly 
because  I  regard  Mr.  Cutbill  as  the  cleverest  person  I  know 
—  the  very  ablest  to  extricate  one  from  a  difficulty  —  that  I 
have  come  to  him  this  morning." 

"  My  honor  is  satisfied !  "  said  he,  laying  his  hand  on  his 
heart,  and  bowing  with  a  grand  seriousness. 

"And  now,"  said  Nelly,  hurriedly,  for  her  patience  had 
wellnigh  given  in,  "  what's  to  be  done?  I  have  a  project 
of  my  own,  but  I  don't  know  whether  you  would  agree  to 
it." 

"  Not  agree  to  a  project  of  yours !  What  do  you  take  me 
for,  Miss  Ellen  ?  " 

"My  dear  Mr.  Cutbill,  I  have  exhausted  all  my  compli- 
ments. I  can  only  say  I  indorse  all  the  preceding  with 
compound  interest." 

Slightly  piqued  by  the  half  sarcasm  of  her  manner,  he 
simply  said  —  "  And  your  project ;  what  is  it?  " 

"  That  you  should  be  a  close  prisoner  for  the  short  time 
Mr.  Sedley  stays  here ;  sufficiently  near  to  be  able  to  com- 
municate and  advise  with  j^ou  —  for  we  count  much  on  your 
counsel  —  and  yet  totally  safe  from  even  the  chance  of  meet- 
ing him.     There  is  a  small  chapel  about  a  mile  off,  where 


518  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

the  family  confessor  used  to  live,  in  two  neat  little  rooms 
adjoining  the  building.  These  shall  be  made  comfortable 
for  you.  We  will  take  care  —  I  will  —  that  you  are  not 
starved ;  and  some  of  us  will  be  sure  to  go  and  see  you 
every  day,  and  report  all  that  goes  on.  I  foresee  a  number 
of  details,  but  I  have  no  time  now  to  discuss  them ;  the 
great  point  is,  do  you  agree  ?  " 

"  This  is  Miss  Julia's  scheme,  is  it  not?" 

",No,  I  assure  you ;  on  my  word,  it  is  mine." 

' '  But  you  have  concerted  it  with  her  ?  " 

"  Not  even  that ;  she  knows  nothing  of  it." 

"  With  whom,  then,  have  you  talked  it  over?  " 

"With  none,  save  Mr.  Cutbill." 

"  In  that  case,  Mr.  Cutbill  complies,"  said  he,  with  a 
theatrical  air  of  condescension. 

"  You  will  go  there?  " 

"  Yes,  I  promise  it." 

"  And  remain  close  prisoner  till  I  liberate  you?" 

"  Everything  you  command." 

"I  thank  you  much,  and  I  am  very  proud  of  my  success," 
said  she,  offering  her  hand.  "  Shall  1  own  to  you,"  said 
she,  after  a  pause,  "  that  my  brother's  nerves  have  been  so 
shaken  by  the  agitation  he  has  passed  through,  and  by  the 
continual  pressure  of  thinking  that  it  is  his  own  personal 
fault  that  this  battle  has  been  so  ill  contested,  that  the  faint- 
est show  of  censure  on  him  now  would  be  more  than  he  could 
bear?  I  have  little  doubt  that  the  cause  is  lost,  and  I  am 
only  eager  that  poor  Augustus  should  not  feel  it  was  lost 
through  him.'' 

She  was  greatly  agitated  as  she  spoke,  and,  with  a  hurried 
farewell,  she  turned  and  left  him. 


CHAPTER  LXIIL 

THE    CLIENT   AND    HIS    LAWYER. 

When  the  rest  of  the  party  had  left  the  dinner-room,  and 
Augustus  Bramleigh  and  Mr.  Sedley  found  themselves  alone, 
a  silence  of  several  minutes  ensued ;  a  very  solemn  pause 
each  felt  it,  well  knowing  that  at  such  a  moment  the  slightest 
word  may  be  the  signal  for  disclosures  which  involve  a  des- 
tiny. Up  to  this,  nothing  had  been  said  on  either  side  of 
''  the  cause  ;  "  and  though  Sedley  had  travelled  across  Europe 
to  speak  of  it,  he  waited  with  decorous  reserve  till  his  host 
should  invite  him  to  the  topic. 

Bramleigh,  an  awkw^ard  and  timid  man  at  the  best  of  times, 
was  still  more  so  when  he  found  himself  in  a  situation  in 
which  he  should  give  the  initiative.  As  the  entertainer  of  a 
guest,  too,  he  fancied  that  to  introduce  his  personal  interests 
as  matter  of  conversation  would  be  in  bad  taste,  and  so  he 
fidgeted,  and  passed  the  decanters  across  the  table  with  a 
nervous  impatience,  trying  to  seem  at  his  ease,  and  stammer- 
ing out  at  last  some  unmeaning  question  about  the  other's 
journey. 

Sedley  replied  to  the  inquiry  with  a  cold  and  measured 
politeness,  as  a  man  might  to  a  matter  purely  irrelevant. 

"  The  Continent  is  comparatively  new  ground  to  you,  Mr. 
Sedley?" 

"Entirely  so.  I  have  never  been  beyond  Brussels  before 
this." 

"Late  years  have  nearly  effaced  national  peculiarities. 
One  crosses  frontiers  now,  and  never  remembers  a  change  of 
country." 

"Quite  so." 

"The  money,  the  coinage,  perhaps,  is  the  great  reminder 
after  all." 


620  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  Money  is  the  great  reminder  of  almost  everything, 
everywhere,    sir,"    said    Sedley,  with  a   stern  and  decisive 

tone. 

"  I  am  afraid  you  are  right,"  said  Bramleigh,  with  a  faint 
sigh ;  and  now  they  seemed  to  stand  on  the  brink  of  a  preci- 
pice, and  look  over. 

"  What  news  have  you  for  me?"  said  he  at  last,  gulping 
as  he  spoke. 

"None  to  cheer,  nothing  to  give  encouragement.  The 
discovery  at  Castello  will  insure  them  a  ve-rdict.  We  can- 
not dispute  the  marriage ;  it  was  solemnized  in  all  form  and 
duly  witnessed.  The  birth  of  the  child  was  also  carefully 
authenticated  —  there  is  n't  a  flaw  in  the  registry,  and  they  '11 
take  care  to  remind  us  on  the  second  trial  of  how  freely  we 
scattered  our  contemptuous  sarcasms  on  the  illegitimacy  of 
this  connection  on  the  first  record.'* 
"  Is  the  case  hopeless,  then?" 

"  Nothing  is  hopeless  where  a  jury  enters,  but  it  is  only 
short  of  hopeless.  Kelson  of  course  says  he  is  sure,  and 
perhaps  so  should  I,  in  his  place.  Still  they  might  disagree 
again:  there's  a  strong  repugnance  felt  by  juries  against 
dispossessing  an  old  occupant.  All  can  feel  the  hardship  of 
his  case,  and  the  sympathy  for  him  goes  a  great  way." 

"  Still  this  would  only  serve  to  protract  matters  —they  'd 
bring  another  action." 

"  Of  course  they  would,  and  Kelson  has  money !  " 
"I   declare   I   see  no   benefit   in   continuing   a   hopeless 
contest." 

"  Don't  be  hopeless  then,  that 's  the  remedy." 
Bramleigh  made  a  slight  gesture  of  impatience,  and  slight 
as  it  was,  Sedley  observed  it. 

'*  You  have  never  treated  this  case  as  your  father  would 
have  done,  Mr.  Bramleigh.  He  had  a  rare  spirit  to  face  a 
contest.  I  remember  one  day  hinting  to  him  that  if  this 
claim  could  be  backed  by  money  it  would  be  a  very  formid- 
able suit,  and  his  answer  was :  —  '  When  I  strike  my  flag, 
Sedley,  the  enemy  will  find  the  prize  was  scarcely  worth 
fighting  for.'  I  knew  what  he  meant  was,  he  'd  have  mort- 
gaged the  estate  to  every  shilling  of  its  value,  before  there 
arose  a  question  of  his  title." 


THE   CLIENT   AND   HIS  LAWYER.  621 

"  I  don't  believe  it,  sir ;  I  tell  you  to  your  face  I  don't 
believe  it,"  cried  Bramleigh,  passionately.  "  My  father  was 
a  man  of  honor,  and  never  would  have  descended  to  such 
duplicity." 

"  My  dear  sir,  I  have  not  come  twelve  hundred  miles  to 
discuss  a  question  in  ethics,  nor  will  I  risk  myself  in  a  dis- 
cussion with  you.  I  repeat,  sir,  that  had  your  father  lived 
to  meet  this  contention,  we  should  not  have  found  ourselves 
where  we  are  to-day.  Your  father  was  a  man  of  consider- 
able capacity,  Mr.  Bramleigh.  He  conducted  a  large  and 
important  house  with  consummate  skill ;  brought  up  his 
family  handsomely  ;  and  had  he  been  spared,  would  have  seen 
every  one  of  them  in  positions  of  honor  and  consequence." 

''To  every  word  in  his  praise  I  subscribe  heartily  and 
gratefully ;  "  and  there  was  a  tremor  in  his  voice  as  Bramleigh 
spoke. 

''  He  has  been  spared  a  sad  spectacle,  I  must  say,"  con- 
tinued Sedley.  "  With  the  exception  of  your  sister  who 
married  that  Viscount,  ruin  —  there  's  only  one  word  for  it 
—  ruin  has  fallen  upon  you  all." 

' '  Will  you  forgive  me  if  I  remind  you  that  you  are  my 
lawyer,  Mr.  Sedley,  not  my  chaplain  nor  my  confessor?" 

"Lawyer  without  a  suit!  Why,  my  dear  sir,  there  will 
be  soon  nothing  to  litigate.  You  and  all  belonging  to  you 
were  an  imposition  and  a  fraud.  There,  there  !  It 's  noth- 
ing to  grow  angry  over ;  how  could  you  or  any  of  you 
suspect  your  father's  legitimacy?  You  accepted  the  situa- 
tion as  you  found  it,  as  all  of  us  do.  That  you  regarded 
Pracontal  as  a  cheat  was  no  fault  of  yours,  —  he  says  so 
himself.  I  have  seen  him  and  talked  with  him ;  he  was  at 
Kelson's  when  I  called  last  week,  and  old  Kelson  said,  — 
'  My  client  is  in  the  next  room :  he  says  you  treated  him 
rudely  one  day  he  went  to  your  office.  I  wish  you  'd  step  in 
and  say  a  civil  word  or  two.  It  would  do  good,  Sedley.  I 
tell  you  it  would  do  good ! '  and  he  laid  such  a  significant 
stress  on  the  word,  that  I  walked  straight  in  and  said  how 
very  sorry  I  felt  for  having  expressed  myself  in  a  way  that 
could  offend  him.  '  At  all  events,  sir,'  said  I,  '  if  you  will 
not  accept  my  apology  for  myself,  let  me  beseech  you  to 
separate  the  interest  of  my  client  from  my  rudeness,  and  let 
not  Mr.   Bramleigh  be  prejudiced  because  his  lawyer  was 


522  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

ill-mannered.'  'It's  all  forgotten,  never  to  be  recalled,' 
said  he,  shaking  my  hand.  '  Has  Kelson  told  you  my  inten- 
tions towards  Bramleigh  ? ' 

"  '  He  has  told  me  nothing,'  said  I. 

''  '  Tell  him,  Kelson.  I  can't  make  the  matter  plain  as 
you  can.     Tell  Mr.    Sedley  what  we  were  thinking  of.' 

"In  one  word,  sir,  his  plan  was  a -partition  of  the  pro- 
perty. He  would  neither  disturb  your  title  nor  dispute  your 
name.  You  should  be  the  Bramleighs  of  Castello,  merely 
paying  him  a  rent-charge  of  four  thousand  a  year.  Kelson 
suggested  more,  but  he  said  a  hundred  thousand  francs  was 
ample,  and  he  made  no  scruple  of  adding  that  he  never  was 
master  of  as  many  sous  in  his  life. 

"  '  And  what  does  Kelson  say  to  this? '  asked  I. 

"  '  Kelson  says  what  Sedley  would  say  —  that  it  is  a  piece 
of  Quixotism  worthy  of  Hanwell.' 

"  'Ma  foi,'  said  Pracontal,  '  it  is  not  the  first  time  I  have 
fired  in  the  air.' 

"  We  talked  for  two  hours  over  the  matter.  Part  of  what 
Pracontal  said  was  good  sound  sense,  well  reasoned  and 
acutely  expressed  ;  part  was  sentimental  rubbish,  not  fit  to  lis- 
ten to.  At  last  I  obtained  leave  to  submit  the  whole  affair 
to  you,  not  by  letter  —  that  they  would  n't  have  —  but  per- 
sonally, and  there,  in  one  word,  is  the  reason  of  my  journey. 

"Before  I  left  town,  however,  I  saw  the  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, whose  opinion  I  had  already  taken  on  certain  points  of 
the  case.  He  was  a  personal  friend  of  your  father,  and 
willingly  entered  upon  it.  When  I  told  him  Pracontal's 
proposal,  he  smiled  dubiously,  and  said,  '  Why,  it 's  a  con- 
fession of  defeat ;  the  man  must  know  his  case  will  break 
down,  or  he  never  would  offer  such  conditions.' 

"I  tried  to  persuade  him  that  without  knowing,  seeing, 
hearing  this  Frenchman,  it  would  not  be  easy  to  imagine 
such  an  action  proceeding  from  a  sane  man,  but  that  his 
exalted  style  of  talk  and  his  inflated  sentimentality  made 
the  thing  credible.  He  wants  to  belong  to  a  family,  to  be 
owned  and  accepted  as  some  one's  relative.  The  man  is 
dying  of  the  shame  of  his  isolation. 

"  '  Let  him  marry.' 

"  '  So  he  means,  and  I  hear  to  Bramleigh's  widow.  Lady 
Augusta.' 


THE  CLIENT  AND   HIS  LAWYER.  623 

*' He  laughed  heartily  at  this  and  said,  'It's  the  only 
encumbrance  on  the  property.'  And  now,  Mr.  Bramleigh, 
you  are  to  judge,  if  you  can ;  is  this  the  offer  of  generosity, 
or  is  it  the  crafty  proposal  of  a  beaten  adversary?  I  don't 
mean  to  say  it  is  an  easy  point  to  decide  on,  or  that  a  man 
can  hit  it  off  at  once.  Consult  those  about  you ;  take  into 
consideration  the  situation  you  stand  in  and  all  its  dangers ; 
bethink  you  what  an  adverse  verdict  may  bring  if  we  push 
them  to  a  trial ;  and  even  if  the  proposal  be,  as  Mr.  Attor- 
ney thinks,  the  cry  of  weakness,  is  it  wise  to  disregard  it?  " 

"  Would  you  have  laid  such  a  proposal  before  my  father, 
Sedley  ?  "  said  Bramleigh,  with  a  scarcely  perceptible  smile. 

"  Not  for  five  hundred  pounds,  sir." 

''  I  thought  not." 

"  Ay,  but  remember  your  father  would  never  have  landed 
us  where  we  stand  now,  Mr.  Bramleigh." 

Augustus  winced  under  this  remark,  but  said  nothing. 

"  If  the  case  be  what  you  think  it,  Sedley,"  said  he  at 
last,  "  this  is  a  noble  offer." 

"  So  say  I." 

* '  There  is  much  to  think  over  in  it.  If  I  stood  alone 
here,  and  if  my  own  were  the  only  interests  involved,  I 
think  —  that  is,  I  hope  —  I  know  w^hat  answer  I  should 
give ;  but  there  are  others.  You  have  seen  my  sister :  you 
thought  she  looked  thin  and  delicate  —  and  she  may  well 
do  so,  her  cares  overtax  her  strength ;  and  my  poor  brother, 
too,  that  fine-hearted  fellow,  what  is  to  become  of  Mm? 
And  yet,  Sedley,"  cried  he  suddenly,  "if  either  of  them 
were  to  suspect  that  this  —  this  —  what  shall  I  call  it?  — 
this  arrangement  —  stood  on  no  basis  of  right,  but  was  sim- 
ply an  act  of  generous  forbearance,  I  'd  stake  my  life  on  it, 
they  'd  refuse  it." 

"  You  must  not  consult  them^  then,  that 's  clear." 

"  But  I  will  not  decide  till  I  do  so." 

''  Oh,  for  five  minutes  —  only  five  minutes —  of  your  poor 
father's  strong  sense  and  sound  intellect,  and  I  might  send 
off  my  telegram  to-night !  "  And  with  this  speech,  deliv- 
ered slowly  and  determinately,  the  old  man  arose,  took  his 
bedroom  candle,  and  walked  away. 


CHAPTER   LXIV. 

A    FIRST   GLEAM    OF    LIGHT. 

After  a  sleepless,  anxious  night,  in  which  he  canvassed  all 
that  Sedley  had  told  him,  Bramleigh  presented  himself  at 
Jack's  bedside  as  the  day  was  breaking.  Though  the  sailor 
was  not  worldly  wise,  nor  endowed  with  much  knowledge  of 
life,  he  had,  as  Augustus  knew,  a  rough-and-ready  judg- 
ment which,  allied  to  a  spirit  of  high  honor,  rarely  failed  in 
detecting  that  course  which  in  the  long  run  proved  best. 
Jack,  too,  was  no  casuist,  no  hair-splitter;  he  took  wide, 
commonplace  views,  and  in  this  way  was  sure  to  do  what 
nine  out  of  ten  ordinary  men  would  approve  of,  and  this  was 
the  sort  of  counsel  that  Bramleigh  now  desired  to  set  side  by 
side  with  his  own  deeply  considered  opinion. 

Jack  listened  attentively  to  his  brother's  explanation,  not 
once  interrupting  him  by  a  word  or  a  question  till  he  had 
finished,  and  then,  laying  his  hand  gently  on  the  other's, 
said,  "  You  know  well.  Gusty,  that  you  could  n't  do  this." 

"  I  thought  you  would  say  so,  Jack." 

"You'd  be  a  fool  to  part  with  what  you  owned,  or  a 
knave  to  sell  what  did  not  belong  to  you." 

"  My  own  judgment  precisely." 

''I'd  not  bother  myself  then  with  Sedley's  pros  and  cons, 
nor  entertain  the  question  about  saving  what  one  could  out 
of  the  wreck.  If  you  have  n't  a  right  to  a  plank  in  the  ship, 
you  have  no  right  to  her  because  she  is  on  the  rocks.  Say 
'No,'  Gusty;  say  'No'  at  once." 

"  It  would  be  at  best  a  compromise  on  the  life  of  one  man, 
for  Pracontal's  son,  if  he  should  leave  one,  could  revive  the 
claim." 

"  Don't  let  us  go  so  far.  Gusty.  Let  us  deal  with  the 
case  as  it  stands  before  us.  Say  '  No,'  and  have  done  with 
the  matter  at  once." 


A  FIRST  GLEAM  OF   LIGHT.  525 

Augustus  leaned  his  head  between  his  hands,  and  fell  into 
a  deep  vein  of  thought. 

''You've  had  your  trial  of  humble  fortune  now,  Gusty," 
continued  Jack,  "  and  I  don't  see  that  it  has  soured  you;  I 
see  no  signs  of  fretting  or  irritability  about  you,  old  fellow ; 
I'll  even  say  that  I  never  remember  you  jollier  or  heartier. 
Is  n't  it  true,  this  sort  of  life  has  no  terror  for  you  ?  " 

"Think  of  Nelly,  Jack." 

''  Nelly  is  better  able  to  brave  hard  fortune  than  either  of 
us.  She  never  was  spoiled  when  we  were  rich,  and  she  had 
no  pretensions  to  lay  down  when  we  became  poor." 

"And  yourself,  my  poor  fellow?  I've  had  many  a  plan 
of  what  I  meant  by  you." 

"  Never  waste  a  thought  about  me.  I  '11  buy  a  trabaccolo. 
They  're  the  handiest  coasting  craft  that  ever  sailed  ;  and  I  '11 
see  if  the  fruit-trade  in  the  Levant  won't  feed  me,  and  we  '11 
live  here.  Gusty,  all  together.  Come  now,  tell  me  frankly, 
would  you  exchange  that  for  Castello,  if  you  had  to  go  back 
there  and  live  alone  —  eh  ?  " 

"  I  '11  not  say  I  would  ;  but—  " 

"  There  's  no  '  but ; '  the  thing  is  clear  and  plain  enough. 
This  place  would  n't  suit  Marion  or  Temple ;  but  they  '11  not 
try  it.  Take  my  word  for  it,  of  all  our  fine  acquaintances, 
not  one  will  ever  come  down  here  to  see  how  we  bear  our 
reduced  lot  in  life.  We  '11  start  fresh  in  the  race,  and  we  '11 
talk  of  long  ago  and  our  grand  times  without  a  touch  of 
repining." 

"  I  'm  quite  ready  to  try  it.  Jack." 

"  That 's  well  said,"  said  he,  grasping  his  hand,  and  press- 
ing it  affectionately.  "And  you'll  say  'No'  to  this  offer? 
I  knew  you  would.  Not  but  the  Frenchman  is  a  fine  fellow. 
Gusty.  I  did  n't  believe  it  was  in  his  nation  to  behave  as 
nobly;  for,  mark  you,  I  have  no  doubts,  no  misgivings 
about  his  motives.  I  'd  say  all  was  honest  and  above  board 
in  his  offer." 

"  I  join  you  in  that  opinion.  Jack ;  and  one  of  these  days 
I  hope  to  tell  him  so." 

"That's  the  way  to  fight  the  battle  of  life,"  cried  the 
sailor,  enthusiastically.  "  Stand  by  your  guns  manfully, 
and,  if  you  're  beaten,  haul  down  your  flag  in  all  honor  to 


626  THE  BRAMLEIGIIS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

the  fellow  who  has  been  able  to  thrash  you.  The  more  you 
respect  liim^  the  higher  you  esteem  yourself.  Get  rid  of 
that  old  lawyer  as  soon  as  you  can,  Gusty;  he's  not  a 
pleasant  fellow,  and  we  all  want  Cutty  back  again." 

''  Sedley  will  only  be  too  glad  to  escape ;  he  's  not  in  love 
with  our  barbarism." 

"I'm  to  breakfast  with  Cutt}^  this  morning.  I  was  nigh 
forgetting  it.  I  hope  I  may  tell  him  that  his  term  of  banish- 
ment is  nearly  over." 

"  I  imagine  Sedley  will  not  remain  beyond  to-morrow." 

''  That  will  be  grand  news  for  Cutty,  for  he  can't  bear 
solitude.  He  says  himself  he  'd  rather  be  in  the  Marshalsea 
with  plenty  of  companions,  than  be  a  king  and  have  no  as- 
sociates. By  the  way,  am  I  at  liberty  to  tell  him  about  this 
offer  of  Pracontal's  ?  He  knows  the  whole  history,  and  the 
man  too." 

''  Tell  him  if  yoxi  like.  The  Frenchman  is  a  favorite  with 
him,  and  this  will  be  another  reason  for  thinking  well  of 
him." 

"  That 's  the  way  to  live,  Gusty.  Keep  the  ship's  com- 
pany in  good  humor,  and  the  voyage  will  be  all  the  happier." 

After  a  few  words  they  parted,  Augustus  to  prepare  a 
formal  reply  to  his  lawyer,  and  Jack  to  keep  his  engagement 
with  Cutbill.  Though  it  was  something  of  a  long  walk, 
Jack  never  felt  it  so ;  his  mind  was  full  of  pleasant  thoughts 
of  the  future.  To  feel  that  Julia  loved  him,  and  to  know 
that  a  life  of  personal  effort  and  enterprise  was  before  him, 
were  thoughts  of  overwhelming  delight.  He  was  now  to 
show  himself  worthy  of  her  love,  and  he  would  do  this. 
With  what  resolution  he  would  address  himself  to  the  stern 
work  of  life !  It  was  not  enough  to  say  affluence  had  not 
spoiled  him,  he  ought  to  be  able  to  prove  that  the  gentleman 
element  was  a  source  of  energy  and  perseverance  which  no 
reverses  could  discourage.  Julia  was  a  girl  to  value  this. 
She  herself  had  learned  how  to  meet  a  fallen  condition,  and 
had  sacrificed  nothing  that  graced  or  adorned  her  nature  in 
the  struggle.  Nay,  she  was  more  lovable  now  than  he  had 
ever  known  her.  "Was  it  not  downright  luck  that  had  taught 
them  both  to  bear  an  altered  lot  before  the  trial  of  their 
married  life  began?     It  was  thus  he  reasoned  as  he  went, 


A  FIRST   GLEAM   OF  LIGHT.  627 

canvassing  his  condition  in  every  way,  and  contented  with  it 
in  all. 

"What  good  news  have  you  got  this  morning?"  cried 
Cutbill,  as  he  entered.  "I  never  saw  you  look  so  jolly  in 
my  life." 

"  Well,  I  did  find  half-a-crown  in  the  pocket  of  an  old 
letter-case  this  morning ;  but  it 's  the  only  piece  of  unex- 
pected luck  that  has  befallen  me." 

"  Is  the  lawyer  gone?  "  ' 

"No." 

"  Nor  thinking  of  going?  " 

"  I  won't  say  that.  I  suspect  he  '11  not  make  a  long  halt 
after  he  has  a  talk  with  Gusty  to-day." 

And  now  Jack  told  in  a  few  words  the  object  of  Sedley's 
coming,  what  Pracontal  had  offered,  and  what  Augustus  had 
resolved  to  send  for  answer. 

"I'd  have  said  the  Frenchman  was  the  biggest  fool  in 
Europe  if  I  had  n't  heard  of  your  brother,"  said  Cutbill, 
puffing  out  a  long  column  of  smoke,  and  giving  a  deep 
sigh. 

"  That 's  not  exactly  how  I  read  each  of  them,"  said  Jack, 
sternly. 

"Possibly;  but  it 's  the  true  rendering  after  all.  Consider 
for  one  moment — " 

"  Not  for  half  a  moment,  Master  Cutbill.  That  my 
brother  might  make  a  very  good  bargain,  by  simply  barter- 
ing such  an  insignificant  thing  as  his  honor  as  a  gentleman, 
is  easy  to  see ;  and  that  scores  of  people  would  n't  under- 
stand that  such  a  compromise  was  in  question,  or  was  of 
much  consequence  if  it  were,  is  also  easy  to  see ;  and  we 
need  waste  no  time  in  discussing  this.  I  say  Gusty  's  right, 
and  I  maintain  it ;  and  if  you  like  to  hold  a  different  opinion, 
do  so  in  Heaven's  name,  but  don't  disparage  motives  simply 
because  you  can't  feel  them." 

"  Are  you  better  after  all  that?  "  said  Cutbill,  dryly,  as  he 
filled  Jack's  glass  with  water,  and  pushed  it  towards  him. 
"  Do  you  feel  refreshed  ?  " 

"Much  better  —  considerably  relieved." 

"  Could  I  offer  you  anything  cooling  or  calming?  " 

*'  Nothing  half  as  cool  as  yourself.  Cutty.     And  now  let 's 


528  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

change  the  subject,  for  it 's  one  I  '11  not  stand  any  chaff 
about." 

"  Am  I*6afe  in  recommending  you  that  grilled  chicken,  or 
is  it  indiscreet  in  me  to  say  you  '11  find  those  sardines  good?  " 

Jack  helped  himself,  and  ate  on  without  a  word.  At  last 
he  lifted  his  head,  and,  looking  around  him,  said,  "  You  've 
very  nice  quarters  here,  Cutbill." 

"  As  neat  as  paint.  I  was  thinking  this  morning  whether 
I  'd  not  ask  your  brother  to  rent  me  this  little  place.  I  feel 
quite  romantic  since  I  've  come  up  here,  with  the  nightin- 
gales, and  the  cicalas,  and  the  rest  of  them." 

"If  there  were  only  a  few  more  rooms  like  this,  I  'd  dis- 
pute the  tenancy  with  you." 

"There's  a  sea- view  for  you!"  said  he,  throwing  wide 
the  jalousies.  "  The  whole  Bocca  di  Cattaro  and  the  islands 
in  the  distance.  Naples  is  nothing  to  it !  And  when  you 
have  feasted  your  eye  with  worldly  beauty,  and  want  a  touch 
of  celestial  beatitude,  you've  only  to  do  this."  And  he 
arose,  and  walking  over  to  one  side  of  the  room,  drew  back 
a  small  curtain  of  green  silk,  disclosing  behind  it  an  orna- 
mental screen  or  "grille"  of  iron-work. 

"What  does  that  mean?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  That  means  that  the  occupant  of  this  room,  when 
devoutly  disposed,  could  be  able  to  hear  mass  without  the 
trouble  of  going  for  it.  This  little  grating  here  looks  into 
the  chapel ;  and  there  are  evidences  about  that  members  of 
the  family  who  lived  at  the  villa  were  accustomed  to  come 
up  here  at  times  to  pass  days  of  solitude,  and  perhaps 
penance,  which,  after  all,  judging  from  the  indulgent  char- 
acter of  this  little  provision  here,  were  probably  not  over 
severe." 

*' Nelly  has  told  me  of  this  chapel.     Can  we  see  it?" 

"No;  it's  locked  and  barred  like  a  jail.  I've  tried  to 
peep  in  through  this  grating;  but  it's  too  dark  to  see 
anything." 

"But  this  grating  is  on  a  hinge,"  said  Jack.  "Don't 
you  see,  it  was  meant  to  open,  though  it  appears  not  to 
have  done  so  for  some  years  back?  Here 's  the  secret  of 
it.'*  And  pressing  a  small  knob  in  the  wall,  the  frame- 
work became  at  once  movable,  and  opened  like  a  window. 


A  FIRST  GLEAM   OF  LIGHT.  529 

*'I  hope  it's  uot  sacrilege,  but  I  mean  to  go  in,"  said 
Jack,  who,  mounting  on  a  chair,  with  a  sailor's  agility 
insinuated  himself  through  the  aperture,  and  invited  Cutbill 
to  follow. 

''No,  no;  I  wasn't  brought  up  a  rope-dancer,"  said  he, 
gruffly.     "If  you  can't  manage  to  open  the  door  for  me  —  " 

"But  it's  what  I  can.  I  can  push  back  every  bolt. 
Come  round  now,   and  I'll  admit  you." 

By  the  time  Cutbill  had  reached  the  entrance.  Jack  had 
succeeded  in  opening  the  massive  doors;  and  as  he  flung 
them  wide,  a  flood  of  light  poured  into  the  little  crypt,  with 
its  splendid  altar  and  its  silver  lamps ;  its  floor  of  tessellated 
marble,  and  its  ceiling  a  mass  of  gilded  tracery  almost  too 
bright  to  look  on :  but  it  was  not  at  the  glittering  splendor  of 
gold  or  gems  that  they  now  stood  enraptured.  It  was  in 
speechless  wonderment  of  the  picture  that  formed  the  altar- 
piece,  which  was  a  Madonna,  —  a  perfect  copy,  in  every 
lineament  and  line,  of  the  Flora  at  Castello.  Save  that  an 
expression  of  ecstatic  rapture  had  replaced  the  look  of 
joyous  delight,  they  were  the  same,  and  unquestionably 
were  derived  from  the  same  original. 

"Do  you  know  that?"  cried  Cutbill. 

"Know  it!     Why,  it 's  our  own  fresco  at  Castello.'^ 

"And  by  the  same  hand,  too,"  cried  Cutbill.  "Here  are 
the  initials  in  the  corner,  —  G.  L. !  Of  all  the  strange 
things  that  I  have  ever  met  in  life,  this  is  the  strangest !  " 
And  he  leaned  on  the  railing  of  the  altar,  and  gazed  on  the 
picture  with  intense  interest. 

"I  can  make  nothing  of  it,"  muttered  Jack. 

"And  yet  there  's  a  great  story  in  it,"  said  Cutbill,  in  a 
low,  serious  tone.  "  That  picture  was  a  portrait,  —  a  por- 
trait of  the  painter's  daughter;  and  that  painter's  daughter 
was  the  wife  of  your  grandfather,  Montague  Bramleigh; 
and  it  is  her  grandchild,  now,  the  man  called  Pracontal, 
who  claims  your  estates." 

"How  do  you  pretend  to  know  all  this?  " 

"I  know  it,  chapter  and  verse.  I  h^ve  gone  over  the 
whole  history  with  that  old  painter's  journal  before  me. 
I  have  seen  several  studies  of  that  girl's  face,  —  *Enrichetta 
Lami, '  she  was  called,  —  and  I  have  read  the  entry  of  her 

34 


530  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  EOLLY. 

marriage  with  your  grandfather  in  the  parish  register.  A 
terrible  fact  for  your  poor  brother,  for  it  clenches  his  ruin. 
Was  there  ever  as  singular  a  chance  in  life  as  the  reappear- 
ance of  this  face  here?" 

"Coming  as  though  to  taunt  us  with  our  downfall ;  though 
certainly  that  lovely  brow  and  those  tearful  eyes  have  no 
scorn  in  them.     She  must  have  been  a  great  beauty." 

"Pracontal  raves  of  her  beauty,  and  says  that  none  of 
these  pictures  do  her  justice,  except  one  at  Urbino.  At 
least,  he  gathers  this  from  the  journal,  which  he  swears  by 
as  if  it  were  gospel." 

"I'd  call  her  handsomer  in  that  picture  than  in  our 
fresco.     I  wonder  if  this  were  painted  earlier  or  later?  " 

"I  can  answer  that  ^question,  for  the  old  sacristan  who 
came  up  here  yesterday,  and  fell  to  talking  about  the 
chapel,  mentioned  how  the  painter  —  a  gran'  maestro  he 
called  him  —  bargained  to  be  buried  at  the  foot  of  the  altar, 
and  the  Marchese  had  not  kept  his  word,  not  liking  to 
break  up  the  marble  pavement,  and  had  him  interred  out- 
side the  walls,  with  the  prior's  grave  and  a  monk  at  either 
side  of  him.  His  brushes  and  colors,  and  his  tools  for 
fresco-work,  were  all  buried  in  the  chapel;  for  they  had  been 
blessed  by  the  Pope's  Nuncio,  after  the  completion  of  the 
basilica  at  Udine.  Haven't  I  remembered  my  story  well, 
and  the  old  fellow  didn't  tell  it  above  nine  times  over? 
This  was  old  Lami's  last  work,  and  here  his  last  resting- 
place." 

"What  is  it  seems  so  familiar  to  me  in  that  name? 
Every  time  you  have  uttered  it  I  am  ready  to  say  I  have 
heard  it  before." 

"What  so  likely,  from  Augustus  or  your  sister." 

"No.  I  can  answer  for  it  that  neither  of  them  ever 
spoke  of  him  to  me.  I  know  it  was  not  from  them  I  heard 
it." 

"But  how  tell  the  story  of  this  suit  without  naming 
him?" 

"They  never  did  tell  me  the  story  of  the  suit,  beyond  the 
fact  that  my  grandfather  had  been  married  privately  in 
early  life,  and  left  a  son  whom  he  had  not  seen  nor  recog- 
nized, but  took  every  means  to  disavow  and  disown.     Wait 


A  FIRST  GLEAM  OF  LIGHT.  531' 

now  a  moment;  my  mind  is  coming  to  it.  I  think  I  have 
the  clew  to  this  old  fellow's  name.  I  must  go  back  to  the 
villa,  however,  to  be  certain." 

"Not  a  word  of  our  discovery  here  to  any  one,"  cried 
Cutbill.  "  We  must  arrange  to  bring  them  all  here,  and  let 
them  be  surprised  as  we  were." 

"I  '11  be  back  with  you  within  an  hour,"  said  Jack. 
"My  head  is  full  of  this,  and  I  '11  tell  you  why  when  I 
return. "       -— — ■ 

And  they  parted. 

Before  Cutbill  could  believe  it  possible,  Jack,  flushed  and 
heated,  re-entered  the  room.  He  had  run  at  top-speed, 
found  what  he  sought  for,  and  came  back  in  intense  eager- 
ness to  declare  the  result. 

"You  've  lost  no  time,  Jack;  nor  have  I,  either.  I  took 
up  the  flags  under  the  altar-steps,  and  came  upon  this  oak 
box.  I  suppose  it  was  sacrilege,  but  I  carried  it  off  here 
to  examine  at  our  leisure." 

"Look  here,"  cried  Jack,  "look  at  this  scrap  of  paper. 
It  was  given  to  me  at  the  galleys  at  Ischia  by  the  fellow  I 
was  chained  to.  Read  these  names:  Giacomo  Lami, — 
whose  daughter  was  Enrichetta,  —  I  was  to  trace  him  out, 
and  communicate,  if  I  could,  with  this  other  man,  Tonino 
Baldassare  or  Pracontal,  —  he  was  called  by  both  names. 
Bolton  of  Naples  could  trace  him." 

A  long  low  whistle  was  Cutbill' s  only  reply  as  he  took 
the  paper  and  studied  it  long  and  attentively. 

"Why,  this  is  the  whole  story,"  cried  he  at  last.  "This 
old  galley-slave  is  the  real  claimant,  and  Pracontal  has  no 
right,  while  Niccolo,  or  whatever  his  name  be,  lives.  This 
may  turn  out  glorious  news  for  your  brother,  but  I  'm  not 
lawyer  enough  to  say  whether  it  may  not  be  the  Crown 
that  will  benefit,  if  his  estates  be  confiscated  for  felony." 

"I  don't  think  that  this  was  the  sort  of  service  Old  Nick 
asked  me  to  render  him  when  we  parted,"  said  Jack, 
drylj^ 

"  Probably  not.  He  only  asked  you  to  help  his  son  to 
take  away  your  brother's  estate." 

"Old  Nick  knew  nothing  about  whose  brother  I  was. 
He  trusted  me  to  do  him  a  service,  and  I  told  him  I  would." 


532  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

Though  Cutbill  paid  but  little  attention  to  him,  Jack 
talked  on  for  some  time  of  his  old  comrade,  recounting  the 
strange  traits  of  his  nature,  and  remembering  with  grati- 
tude such  little  kindness  as  it  was  in  his  power  to  show. 

"I  'd  have  gone  clean  out  of  my  mind  but  for  him,"  said 
he,   at  last. 

"And  we  have  all  believed  that  this  fellow  was  lost  at 
sea,"  muttered  Cutbill.  "Bolton  gave  up  all  his  papers 
and  the  remnant  of  his  property  to  his  son  in  that  belief." 

"  Nor  does  he  wish  to  be  thought  living  now.  He  charged 
me  to  give  no  clew  to  him.  He  even  said  I  was  to  speak 
of  him  as  one  I  had  met  at  Monte  Video  years  ago." 

"These  are  things  for  a  'cuter  head  than  yours  or  mine, 
Jack,"  said  Cutbill,  with  a  cunning  look.  "We  're  not  the 
men  to  see  our  way  through  this  tangle.  Go  and  show  that 
scrap  of  paper  to  Sedley,  and  take  this  box  with  you. 
Tell  him  how  you  came  by  each.  That  old  fox  will  soon 
see  whether  they  confirm  the  case  against  your  brother  or 
disclose  a  flaw  in  it." 

"And  is  that  the  way  I 'm  to  keep  my  word  to  Old 
Nick?"  said  Jack,  doggedly. 

"I  don't  suppose  you  ever  bound  yourself  to  injure  your 
own  flesh  and  blood  by  a  blank  promise.  I  don't  believe 
there  's  a  family  in  Europe  with  as  many  scruples,  and  as 
little  sense  how  to  deal  with  them." 

"  Civil  that,  certainly." 

"Not  a  bit  civil,  only  true;  but  let  us  not  squabble.  Go 
and  tell  Sedley  what  we  have  chanced  upon.  These  men 
have  a  way  of  looking  at  the  commonest  events  —  and  this 
is  no  common  event  —  that  you  nor  I  have  never  dreamed 
of.  If  Pracontal's  father  be  alive,  Pracontal  cannot  be  the 
claimant  to  your  estates ;  that  much,  I  take  it,  is  certain. 
At  all  events,  Sedley  's  the  man  to  answer  this." 

Half  pushing  Jack  out  of  the  room  while  he  deposited  the 
box  in  his  hands,  Cutbill  at  last  sent  him  off,  not  very 
willingly  indeed,  or  concurringly,  but  like  one  who,  in 
spite  of  himself,  saw  he  was  obliged  to  take  a  particular 
course,  and  travel  a  road  without  the  slightest  suspicion  of 
where  it  led  to. 


CHAPTER   LXV. 

THE    LIGHT    STRONGER. 

*'Sedley  asks  for  the  best  Italian  scholar  amongst  us,"  said 
Augustus  the  next  morning,  at  breakfast,  "and  the  voice 
of  public  opinion  calls  upon  you,  Julia." 

"You  know  what  Figaro  said  of  'common  report.'  I'll 
not  repeat  it,"  said  she,  laughing,  "and  I'll  even  behave  as 
if  I  did  n't  believe  it.  And  now  what  is  wanted  of  me,  or 
my  Italian  scholarship?" 

"The  matter  is  thus:  Sedley  has  received  some  papers  " 
—  here  a  look  of  intelligence  passed  between  Augustus 
and  Jack  —  "which  he  imagines  may  be  of  consequence, 
but  being  in  Italian,  he  can't  read  them.  He  needs  a 
translator  —  " 

"I  am  equal  to  that,"  broke  she  in,  "but  why  don't  we 
do  it  in  committee,  as  you  political  people  call  it?  Five 
heads  are  better  than  one." 

"Mr  Sedley  is  absolute,  and  will  have  but  one." 

"And  am  I  to  be  closeted  for  a  whole  morning  with  Mr. 
Sedley?  I  declare  it  seems  compromising.  Jack  frowns 
at  me.  There  is  nothing  so  prudish  as  a  sailor.  I  wish 
any  one  would  tell  me  why  it  is  so." 

"Well,  the  matter  is  as  you  have  stated  it,"  said  Augus- 
tus. "Mr.  Sedley  says,  *Let  me  have  the  aid  of  some  one 
who  will  not  grudge  me  two  hours,  mayhap  three. '  " 

"What  if  the  documents  should  turn  out  love-letters?" 

"Julia!  Julia!"  cried  Jack,  reprovingly;  for  in  reality 
her  sallies  kept  him  in  constant  anxiety. 

"I  can't  help  it.  Jack;  I  must  be  prudent,  even  if  I  shock 
you  by  my  precautions.     I  repeat,  if  these  be  love-letters  ?  " 

"Well,  I  can  answer  so  far,"  said  Augustus.  "They  are 
not,  —  at  least,  I  can  almost  assert  they  are  not." 


534  THE   BRA]VILEIGHS   OF    BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 

''I  wish  Nelly  would  go,"  said  Julia,  with  mock  serious- 
ness. "I  see  Jack  is  wretched  about  it;  and,  after  all, 
Mr.  Sedley,  though  not  exactly  a  young  man  —  " 

"I  declare  this  is  too  bad,"  said  Jack,  rising  angrily 
from  the  table,  and  then  throwing  himself  back  in  his 
chair,   as  in  conflict  with  his  own  temper. 

"  She  is  provoking,  there  is  no  doubt  of  it,  and  on  board 
ship  we  'd  not  stand  that  sort  of  thing  five  minutes,"  said 
Julia,  with  a  demure  air;  "  but  on  land,  and  amongst  terres- 
trial creatures,  Master  Jack,  I  know  nothing  for  it  but 
patience." 

"  Patience !  "  muttered  he,  with  an  expression  that  made 
them  all  burst  out  laughing. 

"So  I  may  tell  Sedley  you  will  aid  him?  "  asked 
Bramleigh. 

"I'm  ready,  now.  Indeed,  the  sooner  begun  the  better; 
for  we  have  a  long  walk  project  —  haven  't  we,  Jack?  —  for 
this  afternoon." 

"Yes,  if  we  have  patience  for  it,"  said  he.  And  once 
more  the  laugh  broke  forth  as  they  arose  from  table  and 
separated  into  little  knots  and  groups  through  the  room. 

"I  may  tell  you,  Julia,"  said  Augustus,  in  a  half  whis- 
per, "  that  though  I  have  given  up  hoping  this  many  a  daj^ 
it  is  just  possible  there  may  be  something  in  these  papers 
of  moment  to  me,  and  I  know  I  have  only  to  say  as  much 
to  secure  your  interest  in  them." 

"I  believe  you  can  rely  upon  that,"  said  she;  and  within 
less  than  five  minutes  afterwards  she  was  seated  at  the 
table  with  Mr.  Sedley  in  the  study,  an  oblong  box  of  oak 
clasped  with  brass  in  front  of  them,  and  a  variety  of  papers 
lying  scattered  about. 

"Have  you  got  good  eyes.  Miss  L'Estrange?  "  said 
Sedley,  as  he  raised  his  spectacles,  and  turned  a  peering 
glance  towards  her. 

"Good  eyes?  "  repeated  she,  in  some  astonishment. 
"Yes;  I  don't  mean  pretty  eyes,  or  expressive  eyes.     I 
mean,  have  you  keen  sight?" 
"I  think  I  have." 

"That 's  what  I  need  from  you  at  this  moment;  here  are 
some  papers  with  erasures  and  re-writings,  and  corrections 


THE   LIGHT   STRONGER.  635 

in  many  places,  and  it  will  take  all  your  acuteness  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  several  contexts.  Aided  by  a  little 
knowledge  of  Latin,  I  have  myself  discovered  some  pas- 
sages of  considerable  interest.  I  was  half  the  night  over 
them;  but  with  your  help,  I  count  on  accomplishing  more 
in  half  an  hour." 

While  he  spoke  he  continued  to  arrange  papers  in  little 
packets  before  him,  and,  last  of  all,  took  from  the  box  a 
painter's  palette  and  several  brushes,  along  with  two  or 
three  of  those  quaintly  shaped  knives  men  use  in  fresco- 
painting. 

"Have  you  ever  heard  of  the  painter  Giacomo  Lami?" 
asked  he. 

"Of  course  I  have.  I  know  the  whole  story  in  which  he 
figures.     Mr.   Bramleigh  has  told  it  to  me." 

"These  are  his  tools.  With  these  he  accomplished  those 
great  works  which  have  made  him  famous  among  modern 
artists,  and  by  his  will  —  at  least  I  have  spelled  out  so 
much  —  they  were  buried  along  with  him." 

"And  where  was  he  buried?  " 

"Here!  here  in  Cattaro.  His  last  work  was  the  altar- 
piece  of  the  little  chapel  of  the  villa." 

"  Was  there  ever  so  strange  a  coincidence !  " 

"  The  world  is  full  of  them,  for  it  is  a  very  small  world 
after  all.  This  old  man,  driven  from  place  to  place  by 
police  persecutions,  —  for  he  had  been  a  great  conspirator 
in  early  life,  and  never  got  rid  of  the  taste  for  it,  —  came 
here  as  a  sort  .^f  refuge,  and  painted  the  frescos  of  the 
chapel  at  the  price  of  being  buried  at  the  foot  of  the  altar, 
which  was  denied  him  afterwards;  for  they  only  buried 
there  this  box,  with  his  painting  utensils  and  his  few 
papers.  It  is  to  these  papers  I  wish  now  to  direct  your 
attention,  if  good  luck  will  have  it  that  some  of  them  may 
be  of  use.  As  for  me,  I  can  do  little  more  than  guess  at 
the  contents  of  most  of  them. 

"Now  these,"  continued  he,  "seem  to  me  bills  and 
accounts;    are  they  such?" 

"Yes,  these  are  notes  of  expenses  incurred  in  travelling; 
and  he  would  seem  to  have  been  always  on  the  road.  Here 
is  a  curious  note:  'Nuremberg:  I  like  this  old  town  much; 


636  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

its  staid  propriety  and  quietness  suit  me.  I  feel  that  I 
could  work  here ;  work  at  something  greater  and  better  than 
these  daily  efforts  for  mere  bread.  But  why  after  all  should 
I  do  more?  I  have  none  now  to  live  for,  —  none  to  work 
for !     Eurichetta,  and  her  boy,  gone !  and  Carlotta  —  '  " 

"Wait  a  moment,"  said  the  lawyer,  laying  his  hand  on 
hers.  "Enrichetta  was  the  wife  of  Montague  Bramleigh, 
and  this  boy  their  son." 

"Yes,  and  subsequently  the  father  of  Pracontal." 

"And  how  so,  if  he  died  in  boyhood?"  muttered  he; 
"read  on." 

"'Now,  Carlotta  has  deserted  me!  and  for  whom?  For 
the  man  who  betrayed  me!  for  that  Niccolo  Baldassare 
who  denounced  five  of  us  at  Verona,  and  whose  fault  it  is 
not  that  I  have  not  died  by  the  hangman.'  " 

"This  is  very  important;  a  light  is  breaking  on  me 
through  this  cloud,   too,   that  gives  me  hope." 

"I  see  what  you  mean.     You  think  that  probably  —  " 

"No  matter  what  I  think;  search  on  through  the  papers. 
What  is  this?  here  is  a  drawing.     Is  it  a  mausoleum?  " 

"Yes;  and  the  memorandum  says,  'If  I  ever  be  rich 
enough,  1  shall  place  this  over  Enrichetta's  remains  at 
Louvain,  and  have  her  boy's  body  laid  beside  her.  Poor 
child,  that  if  spared  might  have  inherited  a  princely  state 
and  fortune,  he  lies  now  in  the  pauper  burial-ground  at 
St.  Michel.  They  let  me,  in  consideration  of  what  I  had 
done  in  repairing  their  frescos,  place  a  wooden  cross  over 
him.  I  cut  the  inscription  with  my  own  hands,  —  G.  L.  B., 
aged  four  years ;  the  last  hope  of  a  shattered  heart. ' 

"  Does  not  this  strengthen  your  impression  ? "  asked 
Julia,  turning  and  confronting  him. 

"Aged  four  years:  he  was  born,  I  think,  in  '99, — the 
year  after  the  rebellion  in  Ireland;  this  brings  us  nigh  the 
date  of  his  death.  One  moment.  Let  me  note  this."  He 
hurriedly  scratched  off  a  few  lines.  "St.  Michel;  where  is 
St.  Michel?     It  may  be  a  church  in  some  town." 

"  Or  it  may  be  that  village  in  Savoy,  at  the  foot  of  the 
Alps." 

"True!     We  shall  try  there." 

"These  are  without  interest;  they  are  notes  of  sums  paid 


THE  LIGHT   STRONGER.  637 

on  the  road,  or  received  for  his  labor.  All  were  evidently 
leaves  of  a  book  and  torn  out." 

"What  is  this  about  Carlotta  here?" 

"Ah,  yes.  *With  this  I  send  her  all  I  had  saved  and 
put  by.  I  knew  he  would  ill-treat  her;  but  to  take  her  boy 
from  her,  —  her  one  joy  and  comfort  in  life,  —  and  to  send 
him  away,  she  knows  not  whither,  his  very  name  changed, 
is  more  than  I  believed  possible.  She  says  that  Niccolo 
has  been  to  England,  and  found  means  to  obtain  money 
from  M.  B.'  " 

"Montague  Bramleigh,"  muttered  Sedley;  but  she  read 
on:  ** 'This  is  too  base;  but  it  explains  why  he  stole  all 
the  letters  in  poor  Enrichetta's  box,  and  the  papers  that 
told  of  her  marriage.'  " 

*'Are  we  on  the  track  now?"  cried  the  old  lawyer,  trium- 
phantly. "This  Baldassare  was  the  father  of  the  claimant, 
clearly  enough.  Enrichetta's  child  died,  and  the  sister's 
husband  substituted  himself  in  his  place." 

"But  this  Niccolo  who  married  Carlotta,"  said  Julia, 
"must  have  been  many  years  older  than  Enrichetta's  son 
would  have  been  had  he  lived." 

"Who  was  to  detect  that?  Don't  you  see  that  he  never 
made  personal  application  to  the  Bramleighs?  He  only 
addressed  them  by  letter,  which,  knowing  all  Enrichetta's 
story,  he  could  do  without  risk  or  danger.  Kelson  could  n't 
have  been  aware  of  this,"  muttered  he;  "but  he  had  some 
misgivings,  —  what  were  they  ?  " 

While  the  lawyer  sat  in  deep  thought,  his  face  buried 
in  his  hands,  Julia  hurriedly  turned  over  the  papers.  There 
were  constant  references  to  Carlotta' s  boy,  whom  the  old 
man  seemed  to  have  loved  tenderly;  and  different  jottings 
showed  how  he  had  kept  his  birthday,  which  fell  on  the  4th 
of  August.  He  was  born  at  Zurich,  where  Baldassare 
worked  as  a  watchmaker,  his  trade  being,  however,  a  mere 
mask  to  conceal  his  real  occupation,  —  that  of  conspirator. 

"No,"  said  Sedley,  raising  his  head  at  last,  "Kelson 
knew  nothing  of  it.  I  'm  certain  he  did  not.  It  was  a 
cleverly  planned  scheme  throughout;  and  all  the  more  so 
by  suffering  a  whole  generation  to  lapse  before  litigating 
the  claim." 


538  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

''But  what  is  this  here?"  cried  Julia,  eagerly.  "It  is 
only  a  fragment;  but  listen  to  it:  'There  is  no  longer  a 
doubt  about  it.  Baldassare's  first  wife  —  a  certain  Marie 
de  Pracontal  —  is  alive,  and  living  with  her  parents  at  Aix, 
in  Savoy.  Four  of  the  committee  have  denounced  him,  and 
his  fate  is  certain. 

"  '  I  had  begun  a  letter  to  Bramleigh,  to  expose  the  fraud 
this  scoundrel  would  pass  upon  him ;  but  why  should  I  spare 
him  who  killed  my  child?'" 

"First  of  all,"  said  Sedley,  reading  from  his  notes,  "we 
have  the  place  and  date  of  Enrichetta's  death;  secondly, 
the  burial-place  of  Godfrey  Lami  Bramleigh  set  down  as 
St.  Michel,  perhaps  in  Savoy.  We  have  then  the  fact  of 
the  stolen  papers,  the  copies  of  registries,  and  other  docu- 
ments. The  marriage  of  Carlotta  is  not  specified,  but  it  is 
clearly  evident,  and  we  can  even  fix  the  time ;  and,  last  of 
all,  we  have  this  second  wife,  whose  name,  Pracontal,  was 
always  borne  by  the  present  claimant." 

"And  are  you  of  opinion  that  this  same  Pracontal  was  a 
party  to  the  fraud?"  asked  Julia. 

"I  am  not  certain,"  muttered  he.  "It  is  not  too  clear; 
the  point  is  doubtful." 

"But  what  have  we  here?  It  is  a  letter,  with  a  postmark 
on  it."  She  read,  "  Leghorn,  February  8,  1812."  It  was 
addressed  to  the  Illustrissimo  Maestro  Lami,  Porta  Rossa, 
Florence,  and  signed  N.  Baldassare.  It  was  but  a  few 
lines,   and  ran  thus:  — 

"  Seeing  that  Carlotta  and  her  child  now  sleep  at  Pisa, 
why  deny  me  your  interest  for  my  boy  Anatole?  You 
know  well  to  what  he  might  succeed,  and  how.  Be  unfor- 
giving to  me  if  you  will.  I  have  borne  as  hard  things  even 
as  your  hatred,  but  the  child  that  has  never  wronged  you 
deserves  no  part  of  this  hate.  I  want  but  little  from  you ; 
some  dates,  a  few  names,  —  that  I  know  you  remember,  — 
and,  last  of  all,  my  mind  refreshed  on  a  few  events  which 
I  have  heard  you  talk  of  again  and  again.  Nor  is  it  for  me 
that  you  will  do  this;  for  I  leave  Europe  within  a  week,  — 
I  shall  return  to  it  no  more.  Answer  this  Yes  or  No  at 
once,  as  I  am  about  to  quit  this  place.  You  know  me  well 
enough  to  know  that  I  never  threaten,  though  I  sometimes 


THE   LIGHT   STRONGER.  639 

counsel;    and  my  counsel   now  is,  consent   to  the  demand 
of  —  N.   Baldassare." 

Underneath  was  written,  in  Lami's  hand,  "I  will  carry 
this  to  my  grave,  that  I  may  curse  him  who  wrote  it,  here 
and  hereafter." 

"Now  the  story  stands  out  complete,"  said  Julia,  "and 
this  Pracontal  belonged  to  neither  Bramleigh  nor  Lami." 

"Make  me  a  literal  translation  of  that  letter,"  said 
Sedley.  "It  is  of  more  moment  than  almost  all  we  have 
yet  read.  I  do  not  mean  now.  Miss  Julia,"  said  he,  seeing 
she  had  already  commenced  to  write,  "for  we  have  these 
fragments  still  to  look  over." 

While  the  lawyer  occupied  himself  with  drawing  up  a 
memorandum  for  his  own  guidance,  Julia,  by  his  directions, 
went  carefully  over  the  remaining  papers.  Few  were  of 
any  interest;  but  these  she  docketed  accurately,  and  with 
such  brevity  and  clearness  combined,  that  Sedley,  little 
given  to  compliments,  could  not  but  praise  her  skill.  It 
was  not  till  the  day  began  to  decline  that  their  labors  drew 
to  a  close.  It  was  a  day  of  intense  attention  and  great 
work ;  but  only  when  it  was  over  did  she  feel  the  exhaustion 
of  overwrought  powers. 

"You  are  very,  very  tired,"  said  Sedley.  "It  was  too 
thoughtless  of  me.  I  ought  to  have  remembered  how  unused 
you  must  be  to  fatigue  like  this." 

"But  I  couldn't  have  left  it;  the  interest  was  intense, 
and  nothing  would  have  persuaded  me  to  leave  the  case 
without  seeing  how  it  ended." 

"It  will  be  necessary  to  authenticate  these,"  said  he,  lay- 
ing his  hand  on  the  papers;  "and  then  we  must  show  how 
we  came  by  them." 

"Jack  can  tell  you  this,"  said  she;  and  now  her  strength 
failed  her  outright,  and  she  lay  back,  overcome,  and  almost 
fainting.  Sedley  hurriedly  rang  for  help;  but  before  any 
one  arrived  Julia  rallied,  and  with  a  faint  smile,  said, 
"Don't  make  a  fuss  about  me.  You  have  what  is  really 
important  to  occupy  you.  I  will  go  and  lie  down  till  even- 
ing ; "  and  so  she  left  him. 


CHAPTER   LXVI. 


SEDLEY  S    NOTES. 


Julia  found  herself  unable  to  come  down  to  dinner,  and 
Mr.  Sedley  had  to  confess  that  he  had  overtaxed  her 
strength  and  imposed  too  far  upon  her  zeal.  "To  tell 
truth,"  added  he,  "I  forgot  she  was  not  a  colleague.  So 
shrewd  and  purpose-like  were  all  her  remarks,  such  apti- 
tude she  displayed  in  rejecting  what  was  valueless,  and  such 
acuteness  in  retaining  all  that  was  really  important,  it  went 
clean  out  of  my  head  that  I  was  not  dealing  with  a  brother 
of  the  craft,  instead  of  a  very  charming  and  beautiful 
young  lady." 

"And  you  really  have  fallen  upon  papers  of  importance?  " 
asked  Nelly,  eagerly;  for  Julia  had  already,  in  answer  to 
the  same  question,  said,  "Mr.  Sedley  has  pledged  me  to 
silence." 

"Of  the  last  importance,  Miss  Bramleigh."  He  paused 
for  an  instant,  and  then  added,  "I  am  well  aware  that  I  see 
nothing  but  friends,  almost  members  of  one  family,  around 
this  table,  but  the  habits  of  my  calling  impose  reserve; 
and,  besides,  I  am  unwilling  to  make  revelations  until,  by 
certain  inquiries,  I  can  affirm  that  they  may  be  relied  on." 

"Oh,  Mr.  Sedley,  if  you  have  a  gleam  —  even  a  gleam  — 
of  hope,  do  give  it  us.  Don't  you  think  our  long-suffering 
and  patience  have  made  us  worthy  of  it?" 

"Stop,  Nelly,"  cried  Augustus,  "I  will  have  no  appeals 
of  this  kind.  Mr.  Sedley  knows  our  anxieties,  and  if  he 
does  not  yield  to  them  he  has  his  own  good  reasons." 

"I  don't  see  that,"  broke  in  Jack.  "We  are  not  asking 
to  hear  our  neighbor's  secrets,  and  I  take  it  we  are  of  an 
age  to  be  intrusted  with  our  own." 


SEDLEY'S   NOTES.  541 

*'You  speak  sharply,  sir,"  said  Sedley,  "but  you  speak 
well.  I  would  only  observe  that  the  most  careful  and 
cautious  people  have  been  known  to  write  letters,  very 
confidential  letters,  which  somehow  get  bruited  about,  so 
that  clews  are  discovered  and  inferences  traced  which  not 
unfrequently  have  given  the  most  serious  difficulties  to 
those  engaged  in  inquiry." 

"Have  no  fears  on  that  score,  Mr.  Sedley,"  said  Jack. 
"There  are  no  four  people  in  Europe  at  this  moment  with 
fewer  correspondents.  I  believe  I  might  say  that  the  roof 
of  this  house  covers  our  whole  world." 

"Jack  is  right,  there,"  added  Augustus.  "If  we  don't 
write  to  the  'Times'  or  the  'Post,'  I  don't  see  to  whom 
we  are  to  tell  our  news." 

"George  has  n't  even  a  pulpit  here  to  expound  us  from," 
cried  Jack,   laughingly. 

"You  have  an  undoubted  right  to  know  what  is  strictly 
your  own  concern.  The  only  question  is,  shall  I  be  best 
consulting  your  interests  by  telling  it?" 

"Out  with  it,  by  all  means,"  said  Jack.  "The  servants 
have  left  the  room  now,  and  here  we  are  in  close  com- 
mittee." 

Sedley  looked  towards  Augustus,  who  replied  by  a  ges- 
ture of  assent;  and  the  lawyer,  taking  his  spectacles  from 
his  pocket,  said,  "I  shall  simply  read  you  the  entry  of  my 
notebook.  Much  of  it  will  surprise,  and  much  more  gratify 
you;  but  let  me  entreat  that  if  you  have  any  doubts  to 
resolve  or  questions  to  put,  you  will  reserve  them  till  I 
have  finished.  I  will  only  say  that  for  everything  I  shall 
state  as  fact  there  appears  to  me  to  be  abundant  proofs, 
and  where  I  mention  what  is  simply  conjecture  I  will  say 
so.  You  remember  my  condition,  then?  I  am  not  to  be 
interrupted." 

"Agreed,"  cried  Jack,  as  though  replying  for  the  most 
probable  defaulter.  "I  '11  not  utter  a  word,  and  the  others 
are  all  discretion." 

"The  case  is  this,"  said  Sedley.  "Montague  Bramleigh, 
of  Cossenden  Manor,  married  Enrichetta,  daughter  of 
Giacomo  Lami,  the  painter.  The  marriage  was  celebrated 
at  the  village  church  of  Portshandon,  and  duly  registered. 


542  THE   BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

They  separated  soon  after,  —  she  retiring  to  Holland  with 
her  father,  who  had  compromised  himself  in  the  Irish  rebel- 
lion of  '98.  A  sou  was  born  to  this  marriage,  christened 
and  registered  in  the  Protestant  church  at  Louvain  as 
Godfrey  Lami  Bramleigh.  To  his  christening  Bramleigh 
was  entreated  to  come ;  but  under  various  pretexts  he  ex- 
cused himself,  and  sent  a  costly  present  for  the  occasion. 
His  letters,  however,  breathed  nothing  but  affection,  and 
fully  recognized  the  boy  as  his  son  and  his  heir.  Captain 
Bramleigh  is,  I  know,  impatient  at  the  length  of  these 
details,  but  I  can't  help  it.  Indignant  at  the  treatment  of 
his  daughter,  Lami  sent  back  the  gift  with  a  letter  of 
insulting  meaning.  Several  letters  were  interchanged  of 
anger  and  recrimination ;  and  Enrichetta,  whose  health  had 
long  been  failing,  sunk  under  the  suffering  of  her  desertion, 
and  died.  Lami  left  Holland,  and  repaired  to  Germany, 
carrying  the  child  with  him.  He  was  also  accompanied  by 
a  younger  daughter,  Carlotta,  who,  at  the  time  I  refer  to, 
might  have  been  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  of  age.  Lami 
held  no  intercourse  with  Bramleigh  from  this  date,  nor,  so 
far  as  we  know,  did  Bramleigh  take  measures  to  learn  about 
the  child,  —  how  he  grew  up,  or  w^here  he  was.  Amongst 
the  intimates  of  Lami's  family  was  a  man  whose  name  is 
not  unfamiliar  to  newspaper  readers  of  some  thirty  or  forty 
years  back,  —  a  man  who  had  figured  in  various  conspira- 
cies, and  contrived  to  escape  scathless  where  his  asso- 
ciates had  paid  the  last  penalty  of  their  crimes.  This  man 
became  the  suitor  of  Carlotta,  and  won  her  affections, 
although  Giacomo  neither  liked  nor  trusted  Niccolo 
Baldassare  —  " 

"Stop,  there,"  cried  Jack,  rising,  and  leaning  eagerly 
across  the  table.     "Say  that  name  again." 

"Niccolo  Baldassare." 

"My  old  companion, — my  comrade  at  the  galleys," 
exclaimed  Jack;  "we  were  locked  to  each  other,  wrist  and 
ankle,   for  eight  months." 

"Helives,l;hen?" 

"I  should  think  he  does.  The  old  beggar  is  as  stout  and 
hale  as  any  one  here.  I  can't  guess  his  age;  but  I'll 
answer  for  his  vigor." 


SEDLEY'S  NOTES.  M3 

''This  will  be  all  important  hereafter,"  said  Sedley, 
making  a  note.  "Now  to  my  narrative.  P'rom  Lami, 
Baldassare  learned  the  story  of  Enrichetta's  unhappy  mar- 
riage and  death,  and  heard  how  the  child,  then  a  playful 
little  boy  of  three  years  or  so,  was  the  rightful  heir  of  a 
vast  fortune,  —  a  claim  the  grandfather  firmly  resolved  to 
prosecute  at  some  future  day.  The  hope  was,  however,  not 
destined  to  sustain  him,  for  the  boy  caught  a  fever  and 
died.  His  burial-place  is  mentioned,  and  his  age,  four 
years." 

"So  that,"  cried  Augustus,  "the  claim  became  extinct 
with  him?  " 

"Of  course;  for  though  Montague  Bramleigh  re-married, 
it  was  not  till  six  years  after  his  first  wife's  death." 

"And  our  rights  are  unassailable?"  cried  Nelly,  wildly. 

"Your  estates  are  safe;  at  least,  they  will  be  safe." 

"And  who  is  Pracontal  de  Bramleigh?"  asked  Jack. 

"I  will  tell  you.  Baldassare  succeeded  in  winning  Car- 
lotta's  heart,  and  persuaded  her  to  elope  with  him.  She 
did  so,  carrying  with  her  all  the  presents  Bramleigh  had 
formerly  given  to  her  sister,  —  some  rings  of  great  price, 
and  an  old  watch  with  the  Bramleigh  arms  in  brilliants, 
among  the  number.  But  these  were  not  all.  She  also 
took  the  letters  and  documents  that  established  her  mar- 
riage, and  a  copy  of  the  registration.  I  must  hasten  on, 
for  I  see  impatience  on  every  side.  He  broke  the  heart  of 
this  poor  girl,  who  died,  and  was  buried  with  her  little  boy, 
in  the  same  grave,  leaving  old  Lami  desolate  and  childless. 
By  another  marriage,  and  by  a  wife  still  living,  Marie 
Pracontal,  Baldassare  had  a  son;  and  he  bethought  him, 
armed  as  he  was  with  papers  and  documents,  to  prefer  the 
claim  to  the  Bramleigh  estates  for  this  youth ;  and  had  even 
the  audacity  to  ask  Lami's  assistance  to  the  fraud,  and  to 
threaten  him  with  his  vengeance  if  he  betrayed  him. 

"So  perfectly  propped  was  the  pretension  by  circum- 
stances of  actual  events,  — Niccolo  knew  everything,  — that 
Bramleigh  not  only  sent  several  sums  of  money  to  stifle  the 
demand,  but  actually  despatched  a  confidential  person 
abroad  to  see  the  claimant,  and  make  some  compromise  with 
him;  for  it  is  abundantly  evident  that  Montague  Bramleigh 


644  THE   BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

only  dreaded  the  scandal  and  the  eclat  such  a  story  would 
create,  and  had  no  fears  for  the  title  to  his  estates,  he  all 
along  believing  that  there  were  circumstances  in  the  mar- 
riage with  Enrichetta  which  would  show  it  to  be  illegal, 
and  the  issue  consequently  illegitimate." 

"I  must  say,  I  think  our  respected  grandfather,"  said 
Augustus,  gravely,  "does  not  figure  handsomely  in  this 
story. " 

"With  the  single  exception  of  old  Lami,"  cried  Jack, 
"they  were  a  set  of  rascals, — every  man  of  them." 

"And  is  this  the  way  you  speak  of  your  dear  friend 
Niccolo  Baldassare?"  asked  Nelly. 

"He  was  a  capital  fellow  at  the  galleys;  but  I  suspect 
he  'd  prove  a  very  shady  acquaintance  in  more  correct 
company." 

"And,  Mr.  Sedley,  do  you  really  say  that  all  this  can  be 
proven?"  cried  Nelly.     "Do  you  believe  it  all  yourself  ?  " 

"Every  word  of  it.  I  shall  test  most  of  it  within  a  few 
days.  I  have  already  telegraphed  to  London  for  one  of  the 
clever  investigators  of  registries  and  records.  I  have  ample 
means  of  tracing  most  of  the  events  I  need.  These  papers 
of  old  Lami's  are  full  of  small  details;  they  form  a  closer 
biography  than  most  men  leave  behind  them." 

"There  was,  however,  a  marriage  of  my  grandfather  with 
Enrichetta  Lami?  "  asked  Augustus. 

"We  give  them  that,"  cried  the  lawyer,  who  fancied  him- 
self already  instructing  counsel.  "We  contest  nothing,  — 
notice,  registry,  witnesses,  all  are  as  legal  as  they  could 
wish.  The  girl  was  Mrs.  Bramleigh,  and  her  son,  Montague 
Bramleigh's  heir.  Death,  however,  carried  away  both,  and 
the  claim  fell  with  them.  That  these  people  will  risk  a 
trial  now  is  more  than  I  can  believe;  but  if  they  should,  we 
will  be  prepared  for  them.  They  shall  be  indicted  before 
they  leave  the  court,  and  Count  Pracontal  de  Bramleigh  be 
put  in  the  dock  for  forgery." 

"No  such  thing,  Sedley!"  broke  in  Bramleigh,  with  an 
energy  very  rare  with  him.  "I  am  well  inclined  to  believe 
that  this  young  man  was  no  party  to  the  fraud,  —  he  has 
been  duped  throughout;  nor  can  I  forget  the  handsome 
terms  he  extended  to  us  when  our  fortune  looked  darkest." 


SEDLEY'S  NOTES.  545 

"A  generosity  on  which  late  events  have  thrown  a  very 
ugly  light,"  muttered  Sedley. 

''My  brother  is  right.  I'll  be  sworn  he  is,"  cried  Jack. 
*'We  should  be  utterly  unworthy  of  the  good  luck  that  has 
befallen  us,  if  the  first  use  we  made  of  it  was  to  crush 
another." 

"If  your  doctrines  were  to  prevail,  sir,  it  would  be  a 
very  puzzling  world  to  live  in,"  said  Sedley,  sharply. 

"We  'd  manage  to  get  on  with  fewer  lawyers,  anyway." 

"Mr.  Sedley,"  said  Nelly,  mildly,  "we  are  all  too  happy 
and  too  gratified  for  this  unlooked-for  deliverance  to  have  a 
thought  for  what  is  to  cause  suffering  anywhere.  Let  us, 
I  entreat  you,  have  the  full  enjoyment  of  this  great 
happiness." 

"Then  we  are  probably  to  include  the  notable  Mr.  Cutbill 
in  this  act  of  indemnity?"  said  Sedley,  sneeringly. 

"I  should  think  we  would,  sir,"  replied  Jack.  "Without 
the  notable  Mr.  Cutbill' s  aid  we  should  never  have  chanced 
on  those  papers  you  have  just  quoted  to  us." 

"Has  he  been  housebreaking  again?'*  asked  Sedley,  with 
a  grin. 

"I  protest,"  interposed  Bramleigh,  "if  the  good  fairy 
who  has  been  so  beneficent  to  us  were  only  to  see  us  spar- 
ring and  wrangling  in  this  fashion,  she  might  well  think  fit 
to  withdraw  her  gift." 

"Oh,  here's  Julia,"  cried  Nelly;  "and  all  will  go  right 
now." 

"Well,"  said  Julia,  "has  any  one  moved  the  thanks  of  the 
house  to  Mr.  Sedley;  for  if  not,  I  'm  quite  ready  to  do  it. 
I  have  my  speech  prepared." 

"Move!  move!"  cried  several,  together. 

"I  first  intend  to  have  a  little  dinner,"  said  she;  "but  I 
have  ordered  it  in  the  small  dining-room ;  and  you  are  per- 
fectly welcome,  any  or  all  of  you,  to  keep  me  company,  if 
you  like." 

To  follow  the  conversation  that  ensued  would  be  little 
more  than  again  to  go  over  a  story  which  we  feel  has  been 
already  impressed  with  tiresome  reiteration  on  the  reader. 
Whatever  had  failed  in  Sedley's  narrative,  Julia's  ready 
wit  and  quick  intelligence  had  supplied  by  conjecture,  and 
35 


546  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

they  talked  on  till  late  into  the  night,  bright  gleams  of 
future  projects  shooting  like  meteors  across  the  placid 
heaven  of  their  enjoyment,  and  making  all  bright  around 
them. 

Before  they  parted  it  was  arranged  that  each  should  take 
his  separate  share  of  the  inquiry ;  for  there  were  registries 
to  be  searched,  dates  confirmed  in  several  places ;  and  while 
L'Estrange  was  to  set  out  for  Louvain,  and  Jack  for  Savoy, 
Sedley  himself  took  charge  of  the  weightier  question  to 
discover  St.  Michel,  and  prove  the  burial  of  Godfrey 
Bramleigh. 


CHAPTER   LXVIL 


A    WAYFARER. 


When  the  time  came  for  the  several  members  of  the  family 
at  the  villa  to  set  out  on  the  search  after  evidence,  Jack, 
whose  reluctance  to  leave  home  —  he  called  it  "home"  — 
increased  with  every  day,  induced  Cutbill  to  go  in  his 
stead,  a  change  which  even  Mr.  Sedley  himself  was  forced 
to  admit  was  not  detrimental  to  the  public  service. 

Cutbill's  mission  was  to  Aix,  in  Savoy,  to  see  and  confer 
with  Marie  Pracontal,  the  first  wife  of  Baldassare.  He 
arrived  in  the  nick  of  time ;  for  only  on  that  same  morning 
had  Baldassare  himself  entered  the  town,  in  his  galley-slave 
uniform,  to  claim  his  wife  and  ask  recognition  amongst  his 
fellow-townsmen.  The  house  where  she  lived  was  besieged 
by  a  crowd,  all  more  or  less  eager  in  asserting  the  woman's 
cause,  and  denouncing  the  pretensions  of  a  fellow  covered 
with  crimes,  and  pronounced  dead  to  all  civil  rights.  Amid 
execrations  and  insults,  with  threats  of  even  worse, 
Baldassare  stood  on  a  chair  in  the  street,  in  the  act  of 
addressing  the  multitude,  as  Cutbill  drew  nigh.  The  im- 
perturbable self-possession,  the  cool  courage  of  the  man  — 
who  dared  to  brave  public  opinion  in  this  fashion,  and 
demand  a  hearing  for  what  in  reality  was  nothing  but  a 
deliberate  insult  to  the  people  around  him  whose  lives  he 
knew,  and  whose  various  social  derelictions  he  was  all 
familiar  with  —  was  positively  astounding.  "I  have  often 
thought  of  you,  good  people,"  said  he,  "while  at  the 
galleys;  and  I  made  a  vow  to  myself  that  the  first  act  of 
my  escape,  if  ever  I  should  escape,  should  be  to  visit  this 
place  and  thank  you  for  every  great  lesson  T  have  learned 
in  life.     It  was  here,  in  this  place,   I  committed  my  first 


548  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

theft.  It  was  yonder  in  that  church  I  first  essayed  sacri- 
lege. It  was  you,  amiable  and  gentle  people,  who  gave  me 
four  associates  who  betrayed  each  other,  and  who  died  on 
the  drop  or  by  the  guillotine,  with  the  courage  worthy  of 
Aix ;  and  it  was  from  you  I  received  that  pearl  of  wives 
who  is  now  married  to  a  third  husband,  and  denies  the 
decent  rights  of  hospitality  to  her  first." 

This  outrage  was  now  unbearable;  a  rush  was  made  at 
him,  and  he  fell  amongst  the  crowd,  who  had  torn  him  limb 
from  limb  but  for  the  intervention  of  the  police,  who  were 
driven  to  defend  him  with  fixed  bayonets.  "A  warm  recep- 
tion, I  must  say,"  cried  the  fellow,  as  they  led  him  away, 
bleeding  and  bruised,   to  the  jail. 

It  was  not  a  difficult  task  for  Cutbill  to  obtain  from 
Marie  Pracontal  the  details  he  sought  for.  Smarting  under 
the  insults  and  scandal  she  had  been  exposed  to  on  the  day 
before,  she  revealed  everything,  and  signed  in  due  form  a 
proces  verbal  drawn  up  by  a  notary  of  the  place,  of  her  mar- 
riage with  Baldassare,  the  birth  of  her  son  Anatole  with 
the  dates  of  his  birth  and  baptism,  and  gave  up,  besides, 
some  letters  which  he  had  written  while  at  the  naval  school 
of  Genoa.  What  became  of  him  afterwards  she  knew  not, 
nor,  indeed,  seemed  to  care.  The  cruelties  of  the  father 
had  poisoned  her  mind  against  the  son,  and  she  showed  no 
interest  in  his  fate,  and  wished  not  to  hear  of  him. 

Cutbill  left  Aix  on  the  third  day,  and  was  slowly  strolling 
up  the  Mont  Cenis  pass  in  front  of  his  horses,  when  he 
overtook  the  very  galley-slave  he  had  seen  addressing  the 
crowd  at  Aix.  "I  thought  they  had  sent  you  over  the  fron- 
tier into  France,  my  friend,"  said  Cutbill,  accosting  him 
like  an  old  acquaintance. 

"So  they  did;  but  I  gave  them  the  slip  at  Culoz,  and 
doubled  back.  I  have  business  at  Rome,  and  could  n't 
endure  that  roundabout  way  by  Marseilles." 

"Will  you  smoke?     May  I  offer  you  a  cigar?" 

"My  best  thanks,"  said  he,  touching  his  cap  politely. 
"They  smashed  my  pipe,  those  good  people  down  there. 
Like  all  villagers,  they  resent  free  speech,  but  they  'd  have 
learned  something  had  they  listened  to  me." 

"Perhaps  your  frankness  was  excessive." 


A   WAYFARER.  649 

"Ha!  you  were  there,  then?  Well,  it  was  what  Diderot 
calls  self-sacrificing  sincerity;  but  all  men  who  travel  much 
and  mix  with  varied  classes  of  mankind,  fall  into  this 
habit.     In  becoming  cosmopolitan  you  lose  in  politeness." 

"Signor  Baldassare,  your  conversation  interests  me 
much.  Will  you  accept  a  seat  in  my  carriage  over  the 
mountain,  and  give  me  the  benefit  of  your  society?  " 

"It  is  I  that  am  honored,  sir,"  said  he,  removing  his 
cap,  and  bowing  low.  "There  is  nothing  so  distinctively 
well  bred  as  the  courtesy  of  a  man  in  your  condition  to  one 
in  mine." 

"But  you  are  no  stranger  to  me." 

"Indeed!  I  remarked  you  called  me  by  my  name;  but 
I'm  not  aware  that  you  know  more  of  me." 

"I  can  afford  to  rival  your  own  candor,  and  confess  I 
know  a  great  deal  about  you." 

"Then  you  have  read  a  very  checkered  page,  sir.  What 
an  admirable  cigar.     You  import  these,  I  'd  wager?  " 

"No,  but  it  comes  to  the  same.  I  buy  them  in  bond, 
and  pay  the  duty." 

"Yours  is  the  only  country  to  live  in,  sir.  It  has  been 
the  dream  of  my  life  to  pass  my  last  days  in  England." 

"Why  not  do  so?  I  can't  imagine  that  Aix  will  prefer 
any  strong  claims  in  preference." 

"No,  I  don't  care  for  Aix,  though  it  is  pretty,  and  I 
have  passed  some  days  of  happy  tranquillity  on  that  little 
Lac  de  Bourges;  but  to' return:  to  what  fortunate  circum- 
stance am  I  indebted  for  the  knowledge  you  possess  of  my 
biography?  " 

"You  have  been  a  very  interesting  subject  to  me  for 
some  time  back.  First  of  all,  I  ought  to  say  that  I  enjoy 
the  pleasure  of  your  son's  acquaintance." 

"A  charming  young  man,  I  am  told,"  said  he,  puffing  out 
a  long  column  of  smoke. 

"And  without  flattery,  I  repeat  it,  —  a  charming  young 
man,  good-looking,  accomplished,  high-spirited  and  brave." 

"You  delight  me,  sir.  What  a  misfortune  for  the  poor 
fellow  that  his  antecedents  have  not  been  more  favorable; 
but  you  see,  Mr.  " 

"Cutbill  is  my  name." 


bi> 


0  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S   FOLLY. 


*'Mr.  Cutbill,  you  see  that  I  have  not  only  had  a  great 
many  irons  in  the  fire  through  life,  but  occasionally  it  has 
happened  to  me  that  I  took  hold  of  them  by  the  hot  ends." 

"And  burned  your  fingers?  " 

"And  burned  my  fingers." 

They  walked  on  some  steps  in  silence,  when  Baldassare 
said,  — 

"  Where,  may  I  ask,  did  you  last  see  my  son  ?  " 

"I  saw  him  last  in  Ireland,  about  four  months  ago.  We 
travelled  over  together  from  England,  and  I  visited  a  place 
called  Castello,  in  his  company,  — the  seat  of  the  Bramleigh 
family." 

''Then  you  know  his  object  in  having  gone  there?  You 
know  who  he  is,  what  he  represents,  what  he  claims  ?  " 

"I  know  the  whole  story  by  heart." 

"Will  you  favor  me  with  your  version  of  it?  " 

"  With  pleasure ;  but  here  is  the  carriage.  Let  us  get  in, 
for  the  narrative  is  somewhat  long  and  complicated." 

"Before  you  begin,  sir,  one  question:  where  is  my  son 
now?  is  he  at  Rome?" 

"He  is;  he  arrived  there  on  Tuesday  last." 

"That  is  enough,  —  excuse  my  interrupting,  —  I  am  now 
at  your  orders." 

The  reader  will  readily  excuse  me  if  I  do  not  follow  Mr. 
Cutbill  in  his  story,  which  he  told  at  full  length,  and  with 
what  showed  a  perfect  knowledge  of  all  the  circumstances. 
It  is  true  he  was  so  far  disingenuous  that  he  did  not  con- 
fess the  claim  had  ever  created  alarm  to  the  minds  of  the 
Bramleighs.  There  were  certain  difficulties,  he  admitted, 
and  no  small  expense  incurred  in  obtaining  information 
abroad,  and  proving,  as  it  was  distinctly  proved,  that  no 
issue  of  Montague  Bramleigh  had  survived,  and  that  the 
pretensions  of  Pracontal  were  totally  groundless. 

"And  your  visit  to  Savoy  was  on  this  very  business?  " 
asked  Baldassare. 

"You  are  right;  a  small  detail  was  wanting  which  I 
was  able  to  supply." 

"And  how  does  Anatole  bear  the  discovery?  " 

"He  has  not  heard  of  it;  he  is  at  Rome,  paying  court  to 
an  English  lady  of  rank  to  whom  he  hopes  to  be  married." 


A  WAYFARER.  651 

"And  how  will  he  bear  it;  in  what  spirit  will  he  meet  the 
blow?" 

"From  what  I  have  seen  of  him,  I  'd  say  he  'd  stand  up 
nobly  under  misfortune,  and  not  less  so  here,  that  I  know 
he  firmly  believed  in  his  right;  he  was  no  party  to  the 
fraud." 

"  These  frauds,  as  you  call  them,  succeed  every  day,  and 
when  they  occur  in  high  places  we  have  more  courteous 
names  to  call  them  by.  What  say  you  to  the  empire  in 
France  ?  " 

"I'll  not  discuss  that  question  with  you;  it  takes  too 
wide  a  range." 

"Anatole  must  bethink  him  of  some  other  livelihood  now, 
that's  clear.     I  mean  to  tell  him  so." 

"You  intend  to  see  him  —  to  speak  with  him?" 

"What,  sir,  do  you  doubt  it?  Is  it  because  my  wife 
rejects  me  that  I  am  to  be  lost  to  the  ties  of  parental  affec- 
tion? "  He  said  this  with  a  coarse  and  undisguised 
mockery,  and  then,  suddenly  changing  to  a  tone  of  earnest- 
ness, added,  "  We  shall  have  to  link  our  fortunes  now,  and 
there  are  not  many  men  who  can  give  an  adventurer  such 
counsels  as  I  can." 

"From  what  I  know  of  the  Bramleighs,  they  would  will- 
ingly befriend  him  if  they  knew  how,  or  in  what  way  to 
do  it." 

"Nothing  easier.  All  men's  professions  can  be  brought 
to  an  easy  test, — so  long  as  money  exists." 

"  Let  me  know  where  to  write  to  you,  and  I  will  see  what 
can  be  done." 

"Or,  rather,  let  me  have  your  address,  for  my  where- 
abouts is  somewhat  uncertain." 

Cutbill  wrote  his  name  and  Cattaro  on  a  slip  of  paper, 
and  the  old  fellow  smiled  grimly,  and  said,  "Ah!  that  was 
your  clew,  then,  to  this  discovery.  I  knew  Giacomo  died 
there,  but  it  was  a  most  unlikely  spot  to  track  him  to. 
Nothing  but  chance,  the  merest  chance,  could  have  led 
to  it?" 

This  he  said  interrogatively ;  but  Cutbill  made  no  reply. 

"You  don't  care  to  imitate  my  frankness,  sir;  and  I  am 
not  surprised  at  it.     It  is  only  a  fellow  who  has  worn  rags 


652  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

for  years  that  does  n't  fear  nakedness.     Is  my  son  travel- 
ling  alone,   or  has  he  a  companion?" 

.     "He  had  a  companion  some  short  time  back;  but  I  do 
not  know  if  they  are  together  now." 

"I  shall  learn  all  that  at  Rome." 

"And  have  you  no  fears  to  be  seen  there?  Will  the 
authorities  not  meddle  with  you  ?  " 

"Far  from  it.  It  is  the  one  state  in  Europe  where  men 
like  myself  enjoy  liberty.  They  often  need  us,  —  they  fear 
us  always." 

Cutbill  was  silent  for  some  time.  He  seemed  like  one 
revolving  some  project  in  his  mind,  but  unable  to  decide  on 
what  he  should  do.     At  last  he  said,  — 

"You  remember  a  young  Englishman  who  made  his 
escape  from  Ischia  last  June  ?  " 

"To  be  sure  I  do,  — my  comrade." 

"  You  will  be  astonished  to  know  he  was  a  Bramleigh,  — 
a  brother  of  the  owner  of  the  estate." 

"It  was  so  like  my  luck  to  have  trusted  him,"  said  the 
other,  bitterly. 

"You  are  wrong  there.  He  was  always  your  friend,  — 
he  is  so  at  this  moment.  I  have  heard  him  talk  of  you  with 
great  kindliness." 

A  careless  shrug  of  the  shoulders  was  the  reply. 

"Tell  him  from  me,"  said  he,  with  a  savage  grin,  "that 
Onofrio,  —  don't  forget  the  name,  —  Onofrio  is  dead.  We 
threw  him  over  the  cliff  the  night  we  broke  the  jail.  There, 
let  me  write  it  for  you,"  said  he,  taking  the  pencil  from 
Cutb ill's  hand,  and  writing  the  word  Onofrio  in  a  large 
bold  character. 

"Keep  that  pencil-case,  will  you,  as  a  souvenir?"  said 
Cutbill. 

"  Give  me  ten  francs  instead,  and  I  '11  remember  you 
when  I  pay  for  my  dinner,"  said  he,  with  a  grating  laugh; 
and  he  took  the  handful  of  loose  silver  Cutbill  offered  him, 
and  thrust  it  into  his  pocket.  "Is  n't  that  Souza  we  see  in 
the  valley  there?  Yes;  I  remember  it  well.  I'll  go  no 
further  with  you  —  there  's  a  police-station  where  I  had 
trouble  once.  I  '11  take  the  cross-path  here  that  leads  down 
to  the  Pinarola  Road.     I  thank  you  heartily.     I  wanted  a 


A   WAYFARER.  553 

little  good-nature  much  when  you   overtook   me.      Good- 

^He  leaped  from  the  carriage  as  he  spoke,  and  crossing 
the  little  embankment  of  the  road,  descended  a  steep  slope, 
and  was  out  of  sight  almost  in  an  instant. 


CHAPTER   LXVin. 

A   MEETING    AND    A    PARTING. 

In  the  same  room  where  Pracontal  and  Longworth  had 
parted  in  anger,  the  two  men,  reconciled  and  once  more 
friends,  sat  over  their  dessert  and  a  cigar.  The  handsome 
reparation  Pracontal  had  offered  in  a  letter  had  been  frankly 
and  generously  met,  and  it  is  probable  that  their  friend- 
ship was  only  the  more  strongly  ratified  by  the  incident. 

They  were  both  dressed  with  unusual  care,  for  Lady 
Augusta  "received"  a  few  intimate  friends  on  that  even- 
ing, and  Pracontal  was  to  be  presented  to  them  in  his 
quality  of  accepted  suitor. 

"I  think,"  said  Longworth,  laughingly,  "it  is  the  sort 
of  ordeal  most  Englishmen  would  feel  very  awkward  in. 
You  are  trotted  out  for  the  inspection  of  a  critical  public, 
who  are  to  declare  what  they  think  of  your  eyes  and  your 
whiskers,  if  they  augur  well  of  your  temper,  and  whether, 
on  the  whole,  you  are  the  sort  of  person  to  whom  a  woman 
might  confide  her  fate  and  future." 

' '  You  talk  as  if  I  were  to  be  sent  before  a  jury  and  risk 
a  sentence,"  said  Pracontal,  with  a  slight  irritation  in  his 
tone. 

"It  is  something  very  like  it." 

"  And  I  say,  there  is  no  resemblance  whatever." 

* '  Don't  you  remember  what  Lord  Byron  in  one  of  his 
letters  says  of  a  memorable  drive  through  Ravenna  one 
evening,  where  he  was  presented  as  the  accepted  ?  —  There 's 
that  hang-dog  rascal  that  followed  us  through  the  gardens  of 
the  Vatican  this  morning,  there  he  is  again,  sitting  directly 
in  front  of  our  window,  and  staring  at  us." 

"  Well,  I  take  it  those  benches  were  placed  there  for 
fellows  to  rest  on  who  had  few  arm-chairs  at  home." 


A  MEETING  AND  A  PARTING.  555 

"  I  don't  think,  in  all  my  experience  of  humanity,  I  ever 
saw  a  face  that  revolted  me  more.  He  is  n't  ugly,  but  there 
is  something  in  the  expression  so  intensely  wicked,  that 
mockery  of  all  goodness,  that  Retsch  puts  into  Mephis- 
topheles;    it  actually  thrills  me." 

"  I  don't  see  that  —  there  is  even  drollery  in  the  mouth.'* 

''  Yes,  diabolic  humor,  certainly.     Did  you  see  that?" 

*' See  what?" 

''Didn't  you  see  that  when  I  lifted  my  glass  to  my  lips, 
he  made  a  pantomime  of  drinking  too,  and  bowed  to  me, 
as  though  in  salutation  ?  " 

"  I  knew  there  was  fun  in  the  fellow.  Let  us  call  him 
over  and  speak  to  him.^' 

"No,  no,  Pracontal;  do  not,  I  beseech  you.  I  feel  an 
aversion  towards  him  that  I  cannot  explain.  The  rascal  poi- 
sons the  very  claret  I  'm  drinking  just  by  glancing  at  me." 

"  You  are  seldom  so  whimsical." 

''Wouldn't  you  say  the  fellow  knew  we  were  talking  of 
him  ?  See  he  is  smiling  now ;  if  that  infernal  grin  can  be 
called  a  smile." 

"I  declare,  I  will  have  him  over  here;  now  don't  go,  sit 
down  like  a  good  fellow ;  there 's  no  man  understands  char- 
acter better  than  yourself,  and  I  am  positively  curious  to 
see  how  you  will  read  this  man  on  a  closer  inspection." 

"  He  does  not  interest,   he  merely  disgusts,  me." 

Pracontal  arose,  drew  nigh  the  window,  and  waved  his 
napkin  in  sign  to  the  man,  who  at  once  got  up  from  his 
seat,  and  slowly,  and  half  indolently,  came  over  to  the  win- 
dow. He  was  dressed  in  a  sort  of  gray  uniform  of  jacket 
and  trousers,  and  wore  a  kerchief  on  his  head  for  a  cap,  a 
costume  which  certainly  in  no  degree  contributed  to  lessen 
the  unfavorable  impression  his  face  imparted,  for  there  was 
in  his  look  a  mixture  of  furtiveness  and  ferocity  positively 
appalling. 

"Do  you  like  him  better  now?"  asked  Longworth,  in 
English. 

And  the  fellow  grinned  at  the  words. 

"  You  understand  English,  eh?"  asked  Pracontal. 

"  Ay,  I  know  most  modern  languages." 

"  What  nation  are  you?  " 


656  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"A  Savoyard." 

* '  Whence  do  j^ou  come  now  ?  " 

"From  the  galleys  at  Iscliia." 

"Frank  that,  anyhow,"  cried  Longworth.  "Were  you 
under  sentence  there?" 

"Yes,  for  life." 

"  For  what  offence?" 

"  For  a  score  that  I  committed,  and  twice  as  many  that  I 
failed  in." 

"  Murder,  assassination?  " 

He  nodded. 

"  Let  us  hear  about  some  of  them,"  said  Pracontal,  with 
interest. 

"  I  don't  talk  of  these  things ;  they  are  bygones,  and  I  'd 
as  soon  forget  them." 

"And  do  you  fancy  they'll  be  forgotten  up  there,"  said 
Pracontal,  pointing  upwards  as  he  spoke. 

"  What  do  you  know  about  '  up  there,'  "  said  he,  sternly, 
"  more  than  myself?  Are  not  your  vague  words,  '  up  there,* 
the  proof  that  it 's  as  much  a  mystery  to  you  as  to  me  ?  " 

"  Don't  get  into  theology  with  him,  or  you  '11  have  to  listen 
to  more  blasphemy  than  you  bargain  for,"  whispered  Long- 
worth  ;  and  whether  the  fellow  overheard  or  merely  guessed 
the  meaning  of  the  words,  he  grinned  diabolically,  and 
said,  — 

"  Yes,  leave  that  question  there." 

"Are  you  not  afraid  of  the  police,  my  friend?"  asked 
Longworth.  "Is  it  not  in  their  power  to  send  you  back  to 
those  you  have  escaped  from  ?  " 

"They  might  with  another,  but  the  Cardinal  Secretary 
knows  me.  I  have  told  him  I  have  some  business  to  do  at 
Rome,  and  want  only  a  day  or  two  to  do  it,  and  he  knows 
I  will  keep  my  word." 

"My  faith,  you  are  a  very  conscientious  galley-slave!" 
cried  Pracontal.  "Are  you  hungry?  "  and  he  took  a  large 
piece  of  bread  from  the  sideboard  and  handed  it  to  him. 
The  man  bowed,  took  the  bread,  and  laid  it  beside  him  on 
the  window-board. 

"And  so  you  and  Autonelli  are  good  friends?"  said 
Longworth  sneeringly. 


A  MEETING  AND  A  PARTING.  557 

''  I  did  not  say  so.  I  only  said  he  knew  me,  and  knew  me 
to  be  a  man  of  my  word." 

''  And  how  could  a  Cardinal  know  —  "  when  he  got  thus 
far  he  felt  the  unfairness  of  saying  what  he  was  about  to 
utter,  and  stopped,  but  the  man  took  up  the  words  with 
perfect  calmness,  and  said  : — 

"The  best  and  the  purest  people  in  this  world  will  now 
and  then  have  to  deal  with  the  lowest  and  the  worst,  just 
as  men  will  drink  dirty  water  when  they  are  parched  with 
thu'st." 

''Is  it  some  outlying  debt  of  vengeance,  an  old  vendetta, 
detains  you  here?"  asked  Longworth. 

"I  wouldn't  call  it  that,"  replied  he,  slowly,  "but  I'd 
not  be  surprised  if  it  took  something  of  that  shape,  after 
all." 

"And  do  you  know  any  other  great  folk?"  asked  Pra- 
contal,  with  a  laugh.  "  Are  you  acquainted  with  the 
Pope?" 

"No,  I  have  never  spoken  to  him.  I  know  the  French 
envoy  here,  the  Marquis  de  Caderousse.  I  know  Field- 
Marshall  Kleinkoff .  I  know  Brassieri  —  the  Italian  spy  — 
they  call  him  the  Duke  of  Brassieri." 

"  That  is  to  say,  you  have  seen  them  as  they  drove  by  on 
the  Corso,  or  walked  on  the  Pincian?"  said  Longworth. 

"  No,  that  would  not  be  acquaintance.  When  I  said 
'  know  '  I  meant  it." 

"  Just  as  you  know  my  friend  here,  and  know  me 
perhaps  ?  "  said  Pracontal. 

"  Not  only  him,  but  you^''  said  the  fellow,  with  a  fierce 
determination. 

"  Jfe,  know  me?  what  do  you  know  about  me  ?  " 

"  Everything,"  and  now  he  drew  himself  up,  and  stared 
at  him  defiantly. 

"I  declare  I  wonder  at  you,  Anatole,"  whispered  Long- 
worth.  "  Don't  you  know  the  game  of  menace  and  insolence 
these  rascals  play  at  ?  "  And  again  the  fellow  seemed  to 
divine  what  passed,  for  he  said  :  — 

"Your  friend  is  wrong  this  time.  I  am  not  the  cheat  he 
thinks  me." 

"  Tell  me  something  you  know  about  me,"  said  Pracontal, 


558  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

smiling ;  and  he  filled  a  goblet  with  wine,  and  handed  it  to 
him. 

The  other,  however,  made  a  gesture  of  refusal,  and  coldly 
said,  —  "  What  shall  it  be  about?  I  '11  answer  any  question 
you  put  to  me." 

*' What  is  he  about  to  do?"  cried  Longworth.  "What 
great  step  in  life  is  he  on  the  eve  of  taking  ? " 

"Oh,  I'm  not  a  fortune  teller,"  said  the  man,  roughly; 
"  though  I  could  tell  you  that  he 's  not  to  be  married  to  this 
rich  Englishwoman.     That  fine  bubble  is  burst  alread3\" 

Pracontal  tried  to  laugh,  but  he  could  not;  and  it  was 
with  difficulty  he  could  thunder  out,  —  "Servants'  stories 
and  lackeys'  talk  !  " 

"  No  such  thing,  sir.  I  deal  as  little  with  these  people  as 
yourself.  You  seem  to  think  me  an  impostor ;  but  I  tell  you 
I  am  less  of  a  cheat  than  either  of  you.  Ay,  sir,  than  you, 
who  play  fine  gentlemen,  mi  Lordo,  here  in  Italy,  but  whose 
father  was  a  land-steward  ;  or  than  you  —  " 

"What  of  me  —  what  of  me  .^  "  cried  Pracontal,  whose 
intense  eagerness  now  mastered  every  other  emotion. 

"You!  who  cannot  tell  who  or  what  you  are,  who  have 
a  dozen  names,  and  no  right  to  any  of  them ;  and  who, 
though  you  have  j^our  initials  burned  in  gunpowder  in  the 
bend  of  your  arm,  have  no  other  baptismal  registry.  Ah ! 
do  I  know  you  now?"  cried  he,  as  Pracontal  sank  upon  a 
seat,  covered  with  a  cold  sweat  and  fainting. 

"  This  is  some  rascally  trick.  It  is  some  private  act  of 
hate.  Keep  him  in  talk  till  I  fetch  a  gendarme."  Long- 
worth  whispered  this,  and  left  the  room. 

"  Bad  counsel  that  he  has  given  you,"  said  the  man. 
"  TJf 2/ advice  is  better.  Get  away  from  this  at  once  —  get 
away  before  he  returns.  There 's  only  shame  and  disgrace 
before  you  now." 

He  moved  over  to  where  Pracontal  was  seated,  and  pla- 
cing his  mouth  close  to  his  ear,  whispered  some  words  slowly 
and  deliberately. 

"And  are  you  Niccolo  Baldassare?  "  muttered  Pracontal. 

"  Come  with  me,  and  learn  all,"  said  the  man,  moving  to 
the  door ;  '  *  for  I  will  not  wait  to  be  arrested  and  made  a 
town  talk." 


A  MEETING   AND   A  PARTING.  659 

Pracontal  arose  and  followed  him. 

The  old  man  walked  with  a  firm  and  rapid  step.  He 
descended  the  stairs  that  led  to  the  Piazza  del  Popolo, 
crossed  the  wide  piazza,  and  issued  from  the  gate  out  upon 
the  Campagna,  and  skirting  the  ancient  wall,  was  soon  lost 
to  view  among  the  straggling  hovels  which  cluster  at  inter- 
vals beneath  the  ramparts.  Pracontal  continued  to  walk 
behind  him,  his  head  sunk  on  his  bosom,  and  his  steps  list' 
less  and  uncertain,  like  one  walking  in  sleep.  Neither  were 
seen  more  after  that  night. 


CHAPTER   LXIX. 

THE    LAST    OF    ALL. 

All  the  emissaries  had  returned  to  the  villa  except  Sedley, 
who  found  himself  obliged  to  revisit  England  suddenly,  but 
from  whom  came  a  few  lines  of  telegram,  stating  that  the 
*'  case  of  Pracontal  de  Bramleigh  v.  Bramleigh  had  been 
struck  out  of  the  cause  list ;  Kelson  a  heavy  loser,  having 
made  large  advances  to  plaintiff." 

"Wasn't  it  like  the  old  fox  to  add  this  about  his 
colleague?  As  if  any  of  us  cared  about  Kelson,  or  thought 
of  him  !  " 

"Good  fortune  is  very  selfish,  I  really  believe,"  said 
Nelly.  "We  have  done  nothing  but  talk  of  ourselves,  our 
interests,  and  our  intentions  for  the  last  four  days,  and  the 
worst  of  it  is  we  don't  seem  tired  of  doing  so  yet." 

"  It  would  be  a  niggardly  thing  to  deny  us  that  pleasure, 
seeing  what  we  have  passed  through  to  reach  it,"  cried 
Jack. 

"  Who  '11  write  to  Marion  with  the  news?  "  said  Augustus. 

*  'Not  I,"  said  Jack  ;  "  or  if  I  do  it  will  be  to  sign  myself 
*  late  Sam  Rogers.'  " 

"If  George  accepts  the  embassy  chaplaincy,"  said  Julia, 
"  he  can  convey  the  tidings  by  word  of  mouth." 

"  To  guess  by  his  dreary  face,"  said  Jack,  "  one  would 
say  he  had  really  closed  with  that  proposal.  What's  the 
matter,  old  fellow;  has  the  general  joy  here  not  warmed 
your  heart? " 

L'Estrange,  pale  and  red  alternately,  blundered  out  a  few 
scarcely  coherent  words ;  and  Julia,  who  well  knew  what 
feelings  were  agitating  him,  and  how  the  hopes  that  adver- 
sity had  favored  might  be  dashed,  now  that  a  brighter  for- 
tune had  dawnea,  came  quickly  to  his  rescue,  and  said,  "  I 


THE   LAST  OF  ALL.  561 

Bee  what  George  is  thinking  of.  George  is  wondering  when 
we  shall  all  be  as  happy  and  as  united  again,  as  we  have  been 
here,  under  this  dear  old  roof." 

"But  why  should  we  not?"  broke  in  Augustus.  "I 
mean  to  keep  the  anniversary  of  our  meeting  here,  and  as- 
semble you  all  every  year  at  this  place.  Perhaps  I  have 
forgotten  to  tell  you  that  I  am  the  owner  of  the  villa.  I 
have  signed  the  contract  this  morning." 

A  cry  of  joy  —  almost  a  cheer  —  greeted  this  announce- 
ment, and  Augustus  went  on,  — 

"My  ferns,  and  my  green  beetles,  and  my  sea  anemones, 
as  Nelly  enumerates  them,  can  all  be  prosecuted  here,  and 
I  purpose  to  remain  and  live  here." 

"And  Castello?" 

"  Jack  will  go  and  live  at  Castello,"  continued  he.  "I 
have  interceded  with  a  lady  of  my  acquaintance "  —  he 
did  not  glance  at  Julia,  but  she  blushed  as  he  spoke  —  to 
keep  a  certain  green  room,  with  a  little  stair  out  of  it  down 
to  the  garden,  for  me  when  I  go  there.  Beyond  that  I  re- 
serve nothing." 

"  We  '11  only  half  value  the  gift  without  you,  old  fellow," 
said  Jack,  as  he  passed  his  arm  around  her,  and  drew  her 
fondly  towards  him. 

"As  one  of  the  uninstructed  public,"  interposed  Cutbill, 
"I  desire  to  ask,  who  are  meant  by  'We'  ?" 

A  half  insolent  toss  of  the  head  from  Julia,  meant  spe- 
cially for  the  speaker,  was,  however,  seen  by  the  others, 
who  could  not  help  laughing  at  it  heartily. 

"I  think  the  uninstructed  public  should  have  a  little  def- 
erence for  those  who  know  more,"  broke  in  Jack,  tartly, 
for  he  resented  hotly  whatever  seemed  to  annoy  Julia. 

"Tom  Cutbill  is  shunted  off  the  line,  I  see,"  said  Cutbill, 
mournfully. 

"If  he  were,"  cried  Augustus,  "  we  should  be  about  the 
most  worthless  set  of  people  living.  We  owe  him  much, 
and  like  him  even  more." 

"Now,  that's  what  I  call  handsome,"  resumed  Cutbill, 
''  and  if  it  was  n't  a  moment  when  you  are  all  thinking  of 
things  a  precious  sight  more  interesting  than  T.  C,  I  'd  ask 
permission  to  return  my  acknowledgments  in  a  speech." 

36 


562  THE  BRAMLEIGHS  OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

"  Oh,  don't  make  a  speech,  Mr.  Cutbill,"  said  Julia. 

"No,  ma'am,  I'll  reserve  myself  till  I  return  thanks 
for  the  bridesmaids." 

*'  Will  no  one  suppress  him?"  said  Julia,  in  a  whisper. 

"Oh,  I  am  so  glad  you  are  to  live  at  Castello,  dearest," 
said  Nelly,  as  she  drew  Julia  to  her,  and  kissed  her.  "  You 
are  just  the  chatelaine  to  become  it." 

"There  is  such  a  thing  as  losing  one's  head,  Nelly,  out  of 
sheer  delight,  and  when  I  think  I  shall  soon  be  one  of  you  I 
run  this  risk ;  but  tell  me,  dearest "  —  and  here  she  whis- 
pered her  lowest  —  "why  is  not  our  joy  perfect?  Why  is 
poor  George  to  be  left  out  of  all  this  happiness?" 

"  You  must  ask  1dm  that,"  muttered  she,  hiding  her  head 
on  the  other's  shoulder. 

"And  may  I,  dearest?"  cried  Julia,  rapturously.  "Oh, 
Nelly,  if  there  be  one  joy  in  the  world  I  would  prize  above 
all  it  would  be  to  know  you  were  doubly  my  sister  —  doubly 
bound  to  me  in  affection.  See,  darling,  see  —  even  as  we 
are  speaking  —  George  and  your  brother  have  walked  away 
together.  Oh,  can  it  be  —  can  it  be?  Yes,  dearest,"  cried 
she,  throwing  her  arms  around  her;  "  your  brother  is  hold- 
ing him  by  the  hand,  and  the  tears  are  falling  along  George's 
cheek ;  his  happiness  is  assured,  and  you  are  his  own." 

Nelly's  chest  heaved  violently,  and  two  low  deep  sobs 
burst  from  her,  but  her  face  was  buried  in  Julia's  bosom, 
and  she  never  uttered  a  word.  And  thus  Julia  led  her 
gently  away  down  one  of  the  lonely  alleys  of  the  garden, 
till  they  were  lost  to  sight. 

Lovers  are  proverbially  the  very  worst  of  company  for 
the  outer  world,  nor  is  it  easy  to  say  which  is  more  intol- 
erable —  their  rapture  or  their  reserve.  The  overweening 
selfishness  of  the  tender  passion  conciliates  no  sympathy; 
very  fortunately,  it  is  quite  indifferent  to  it.  If  it  were  not 
all-sufficing,  it  would  not  be  that  glorious  delirium  that  be- 
lieves the  present  to  be  eternal,  and  sees  a  world  peopled 
only  by  two. 

What  should  we  gain,  therefore,  if  we  loitered  in  such 
company  ?  They  would  not  tell  us  their  secrets  —  they 
would  not  care  to  hear  ours.  Let  it  be  enough  to  say  that, 
after  some  dark  and  anxious  days  in  life,  fortune  once  more 


THE   LAST  OF  ALL.  563 

shone  out  on  those  whom  we  saw  so  prosperous  when  first 
we  met  them.  If  they  were  not  very  brilliant  nor  very 
good,  they  were  probably  —  with  defects  of  temper  and 
shortcomings  in  high  resolve  —  pretty  much  like  the  best 
of  those  we  know  in  life.  Augustus,  with  a  certain  small 
vanity  that  tormented  him  into  thinking  that  he  had  a 
lesson  to  read  to  the  world,  and  that  he  was  a  much  finer 
creature  than  he  seemed  or  looked,  was  really  a  generously 
minded   and  warm-hearted   fellow,  who  loved   his  neighbor 

—  meaning  his  brother  or  his  sister  —  a  great  deal  better 
than  himself. 

Nelly  was  about  as  good  as  —  I  don't  think  better  than 

—  nineteen  out  of  every  twenty  honestly  brought-up  gii'ls, 
who,  not  seduced  by  the  luxuries  of  a  very  prosperous  con- 
dition, come  early  to  feel  and  to  know  what  money  can  and 
what  it  cannot  do. 

Jack  had  many  defects  of  hot  temper  and  hastiness,  but 
on  the  whole  was  a  fine,  sailor-like  fellow,  carrying  with  him 
through  life  the  dashing  hardihood  that  he  would  have  dis- 
played in  a  breach  or  on  a  boarding,  and  thus  occasionally 
exuberant,  where  smaller  and  weaker  traits  would  have 
sufficed.  Such  men,  from  time  to  time,  make  troublesome 
first  lieutenants,  but  women  do  not  dislike  them,  and  there 
is  an  impression  abroad  that  they  make  good  husbands,  and 
that  all  the  bluster  they  employ  towards  the  world  subsides 
into  the  mildest  possible  murmur  beside  the  domestic  hearth- 
rug. 

Marion  was  not  much  more  or  much  less  than  we  have 
seen  her;  and  though  she  became,  by  the  great  and  dis- 
tinguished services  of  her  husband,  a  countess,  she  was  not 
without  a  strange  sentiment  of  envy  for  a  certain  small 
vicarage  in  Herts,  where  rosy  children  romped  before  the 
latticed  porch,  beneath  which  sat  a  very  blooming  and 
beautiful  mother,  and  worked  as  her  husband  read  for  her. 
A  very  simple  little  home  sketch ;  but  it  was  the  page  of  a 
life  where  all  harmonized  and  all  went  smoothly  on  :  one  of 
those  lives  of  small  ambitions  and  humble  pleasures  which 
are  nearer  Paradise  than  anything  this  world  gives  us. 

Temple  Bramleigh  was  a  secretary  of  legation,  and  lived 
to  see  himself  —  in   the  uniformity  of   his  manuscript,  the 


5G4  THE  BRAMLEIGHS   OF   BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

precision  of  his  docketing,  and  the  exactness  of  his  seal- 
ing wax  —  the  pet  of  "the  Office."  Acolytes  who  swung 
incense  before  permanent  secretaries,  or  held  up  the  vest- 
ments of  chief  clerks,  and  who  heard  the  words  which  drop 
from  the  high  priests  of  foolscap,  declared  Temple  was  a 
rising  man  ;  and  with  a  brother-in-law  in  the  Lords,  and  a 
brother  rich  enough  to  contest  a  seat  in  the  Lower  House, 
one  whose  future  pointed  to  a  high  post  and  no  small 
distinction :  for,  happily  for  us,  we  live  in  an  age  where 
self-assertion  is  as  insufficient  in  public  life  as  self-righteous- 
ness in  religion,  and  our  merits  are  always  best  cared  for  by 
imputed  holiness. 

The  story  of  this  volume  is  of  the  Bramleighs,  and  I  must 
not  presume  to  suppose  that  my  reader  interests  himself  in 
the  fate  of  those  secondary  personages  who  figure  in  the 
picture.  Lady  Augusta,  however,  deserves  a  passing  men- 
tion, but  perhaps  her  own  words  will  be  more  descriptive 
than  any  of  mine ;  and  1  cannot  better  conclude  than  with 
the  letter  she  wrote  to  Nelly,  and  which  ran  thus :  — 

"Villa  Altieri,  Rome. 

"Dearest  Child,  —  How  shall  lever  convey  to  you  one-half 
the  transport,  the  joy,  the  ecstasy  I  am  filled  with  by  this  glorious 
news !  There  is  no  longer  a  question  of  law  or  scandal  or 
exposure.  Your  estates  are  your  own,  and  your  dear  name  stands 
forth  untarnished  and  splendid  as  it  has  ever  done.  It  is  only  as 
I  bethink  me  of  what  you  and  dearest  Augustus  and  darling  Jack 
must  have  gone  through  that  I  spare  you  the  narrative  of  my  own 
sufferings,  my  days  of  sorrow,  my  nights  of  crying.  It  was  indeed 
a  terrific  trial  to  us  all,  and  those  horrid  stories  of  hair  turning  white 
from  grief  made  me  rush  to  the  glass  every  morning  at  daybreak 
with  a  degree  of  terror  that  I  know  well  I  shall  never  be  able 
to  throw  off  for  many  a  year ;  for  I  can  assure  you,  dearest,  that 
the  washes  are  a  mistake,  and  most  pernicious  !  They  are  made 
of  what  chemists  call  Ethiops  mineral,  which  is  as  explosive  as 
nitro-glycerine ;  and  once  penetrating  the  pores,  the  head  becomes, 
as  Doctor  Robertson  says,  a  '  charged  shell.'  Can  you  fancy  any- 
thing as  horrible  ?  Incipient  grayness  is  best  treated  with  silver 
powder,  which,  when  the  eyelashes  are  properly  darkened  at  the 
base,  gives  a  very  charming  lustre  to  the  expression.  On  no 
account  use  gold  powder. 

"It  was  a  Mr.  Longworth,  a   neighbor  of  yours,  whom  you 


THE  LAST  OF  ALL.  565 

don't  know,  brought  me  the  first  news ;  but  it  was  soon  all  over 
Rome,  for  his  father  —  I  mean  Pracontal's  —  was  formerly  much 
employed  by  Antonelli,  and  came  here  with  the  tidings  that  the 
mine  had  exploded,  and  blown  up  only  themselves.  A  very  dreadful 
man  his  father,  with  a  sabre  scar  down  the  cheek,  and  deep  marks 
of  manacles  on  his  wrists  and  ankles ;  but  woulc  n't  take  money 
from  the  Cardinal,  nor  anything  but  a  passport.  And  they  went 
away,  so  the  police  say,  on  foot,  P.  dressed  in  some  horrid  coarse 
clothes  like  his  father  ;  and  oh,  darling,  how  handsome  he  was, 
and  how  distinguished-looking !  It  was  young  France,  if  you 
like;  but,  after  all,  don't  we  all  like  the  Boulevard  de  Ghent 
better  than  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain  ?  He  was  very  witty,  too ; 
that  is,  he  was  a  master  of  a  language  where  wit  comes  easy,  and 
could  season  talk  with  those  nice  little  flatteries  which,  like 
Jioriture  in  singing,  heighten  the  charm,  but  never  impair  the 
force  of  the  melody.  And  then,  how  he  sang  !  Imagine  Mario 
in  a  boudoir  with  a  cottage  piano  accompaniment,  and  then  you 
have  it.  It  is  very  hard  to  know  anything  about  men,  but,  so  far 
as  I  can  see,  he  was  not  a  cheat ;  he  believed  the  whole  stupid 
story,  and  fancied  that  there  had  been  a  painter  called  Lami,  and 
a  beautiful  creature  who  married  somebody  and  was  the  mother 
of  somebody  else.  He  almost  made  me  believe  it,  too;  that  is, 
it  bored  me  ineffably,  and  I  used  to  doze  over  it,  and  when  I  awoke 
I  was  n't  quite  sure  whether  I  dreamed  he  was  a  man  of  fortune 
or  that  such  was  a  fact.  Do  you  think  he  '11  shoot  himself  V  I 
hope  he  '11  not  shoot  himself.  It  would  throw  such  a  lasting  gloom 
over  the  whole  incident  that  one  could  never  fall  back  upon  it  in 
memory  without  deep  sorrow ;  but  men  are  so  essentially  selfish  I 
don't  think  that  this  consideration  would  weigh  with  him. 

"  Some  malicious  people  here  circulated  a  story  that  he  had 
made  me  an  offer  of  marriage,  and  that  I  had  accepted  it.  Just 
as  they  said  some  months  ago  that  I  had  gone  over  to  Rome,  and 
here  I  am  still,  as  the  police-sheet  calls  me,  a  '  Widow  and  a 
Protestant.'  My  character  for  eccentricity  exposes  me  naturally 
to  these  kinds  of  scandal ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  saves  me 
from  the  trouble  of  refuting  or  denying  them.  So  that  I  shall 
take  no  notice  whatever  either  of  my  conversion  or  my  mar- 
riage, and  the  dear  world  —  never  ill-natured  when  it  is  useless 
—  will  at  last  accept  the  fact,  small  and  insignificant  though 
it  be,  just  as  creditors  take  half  a  crown  in  the  pound  after  a 
bankruptcy. 

"  And  now,  dearest,  is  it  too  soon,  is  it  too  importunate,  or  is  it 
too  indelicate  to  tell  your  brother  that,  though  I  'm  the  most 
ethereal  of  creatures,  I  require  to  eat  occasionally,  and  that, 
though  I  am  continually  reproved  for  the  lowness  of  my  dresses, 


666  THE   BRAMLEIGHS   OF  BISHOP'S  FOLLY. 

I  still  do  wear  some  clothes.  In  a  word,  dearest,  I  am  in  dire 
poverty,  and  to  give  me  simply  a  thousand  a  year  is  to  say,  be  a 
casual  pauper.  No  one  —  my  worst  enemy  —  and  I  suppose  I  have 
a  few  who  hate  and  would  despitef uUy  use  me  —  can  say  I  am 
extravagant.  The  necessaries  of  life,  as  they  are  called,  are  the 
costly  things,  and  these  are  what  I  can  perfectly  well  dispense 
with.  I  want  its  elegancies,  its  refinements,  and  these  one  has  so 
cheaply.  What,  for  instance,  is  the  cost  of  the  bouquet  on  your 
dinner-table  ?  Certainly  not  more  than  one  of  your  entrees  ;  and 
it  is  infinitely  more  charming  and  more  pleasure-giving.  My 
coffee  costs  me  no  more  out  of  Sevres  than  out  of  a  white  mug 
with  a  lip  like  a  milk-pail ;  and  will  you  tell  me  that  the  Mocha  is 
the  same  in  the  one  as  the  other  ?  What  I  want  is  that  life  should 
be  picturesque,  that  its  elegancies  should  so  surround  one  that  its 
coarser,  grosser  elements  be  kept  out  of  sight ;  and  this  is  a  cheap 
philosophy.  My  little  villa  here  —  and  nothing  can  be  smaller  — 
affords  it ;  but  come  and  see  dearest  —  that  is  the  true  w^ay  —  come 
and  see  how  I  live.  If  ever  there  was  an  existence  of  simple 
pleasures  it  is  mine.  I  never  receive  in  the  morning  —  I  study. 
I  either  read  improving  books  —  I  '11  show  you  some  of  them  — 
or  I  converse  with  Monsignore  Galloni.  We  talk  theology  and 
mundane  things  at  times,  and  we  play  besique,  and  we  flirt  a 
little ;  but  not  as  you  would  understand  flirtation.  It  is  as 
though  a  light  zephyr  stirred  the  leaves  of  the  affections  and 
shook  out  the  perfume,  but  never  detached  a  blossom  nor  injured 
a  bud.  Monsignore  is  an  adept  at  this  game  ;  so  serious,  and  yet 
so  tender,  so  spiritual,  and  at  the  same  time  so  compassionate 
to  poor  weak  human  nature  — which,  by  the  way,  he  understands 
in  its  conflicts  with  itself,  its  motives,  and  its  struggles,  as  none  of 
your  laymen  do.  Not  but  poor  Pracontal  had  a  very  ingenious 
turn,  and  could  reconcile  much  that  coarser  minds  would  have 
called  discrepant  and  contradictory. 

"  So  that,  dearest,  with  less  than  three  thousand,  or  two  five 
hundred,  I  must  positively  go  to  jail.  It  has  occurred  to  me  that, 
if  none  care  to  go  over  to  that  house  in  Ireland,  I  might  as  well 
live  there,  at  least  for  the  two  or  three  months  in  the  year  that 
the  odious  climate  permits.  As  to  the  people,  I  know  they  would 
dote  on  me.  I  feel  for  them  very  much,  and  I  have  learned  out 
here  the  true  chords  their  natures  respond  to.  What  do  you  say 
to  this  plan  ?  Would  it  not  be  ecstasy  if  you  agreed  to  share  it  ? 
The  cheapness  of  Ireland  is  a  proverb.  I  had  a  grand-uncle  who 
once  was  Viceroy  there,  and  his  letters  show  that  he  only  spent  a 
third  of  his  official  income. 

"  I  'd  like  to  do  this,  too,  if  I  only  knew  what  my  official 
income  was.     Ask  Gusty  this  question,  and  kiss  every  one  that 


THE  LAST   OF  ALL.  667 

ought  to  be  kissed,  and  give  them  loves  innumerable,  and  believe 
me  ever  your 

"  Doting  mamma  (or  mamina,  that 's  prettier), 

"Augusta  Bramleigh. 

"  I  shall  write  to  Marion  to-morrow.  It  will  not  be  as  easy  a 
task  as  this  letter;  but  I  have  done  even  more  difficult  ones.  So 
they  are  saying  now  that  Culduff's  promotion  was  a  mere  mistake ; 
that  there  never  was  such  a  man  as  Sam  Rogers  at  all  —  no  case 
—  no  indemnity  —  no  escape  —  no  anything.  Oh,  dear  me,  as 
Monsignore  says,  what  rest  have  our  feet  once  we  leave  total 
incredulity  ?  '* 


OF    THE 

UNIVERSITY 

CF 


THE  END. 


193050 


